Category Archives: Poetry

“Stop using what’s left of our muscle to press against crumbling / walls; use them to hold another body”: Queer Bodies and Illness at the End of the World in Jason Purcell’s SWOLLENING

Posted on June 26, 2022 by CaseytheCanadianLesbrarian

I’d been thinking about the body even before the devastating news that Roe vs Wade was overturned in the US. I’d been thinking about bodies because I’d been reading Jason Purcell’s debut poetry collection, Swollening. The book is full of … Continue reading →

Posted in Alberta, Canadian, disability, Non Binary, Poetry, Queer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Queer and Desperate Poetry,” “Never … An Uncomplicated Story”: A Review of Amber Dawn’s Exquisite New Book of Poetry, MY ART IS KILLING ME

Posted on May 26, 2020 by CaseytheCanadianLesbrarian

Amber Dawn’s latest and second collection of poetry, My Art is Killing Me and Other Poems, is an exquisite, hard-hitting book. At times devastating, My Art is Killing Me is not without its moments of humour and light. Amber Dawn … Continue reading →

Posted in Amber Dawn, Canadian, femme, Poetry, Queer, Sex Work, Vancouver | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Gorgeous, Fiery Words and Skillful, Clever Use of Poetic Devices Equal Only to Each Other: A Review of Jillian Christmas’s Poetry Collection THE GOSPEL OF BREAKING

Posted on May 12, 2020 by CaseytheCanadianLesbrarian

There were many times when I gasped out loud and just sat in awe as I was reading Jillian Christmas’s debut poetry collection The Gospel of Breaking. The poems are alternately sad, sexy, funny, and angry; I found myself—very willingly—riding … Continue reading →

Posted in Black, Canadian, Caribbean, Poetry, Queer | 2 Comments

“riot grrrl raised me, I’m rigorous af, and I breathe the fire of nookomis into everything I do”: A Review of nîtisânak by Lindsay Nixon

Posted on April 11, 2019 by CaseytheCanadianLesbrarian

nîtisânak by Lindsay Nixon is the kind of book that makes you feel grateful to get a chance to peek into someone else’s mind. It’s a unique, genre-defying book that I still vividly remember despite having read it in November … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian, Indigenous, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Queer, Rural, Trans, Transgender | 2 Comments

The 10 Best Queer Books of 2018 (that I read, at least)

Posted on January 3, 2019 by CaseytheCanadianLesbrarian

Some of these were published in 2018, some I just read in 2018! They span pretty much every genre and are all 5 stars, I-can’t-believe-how-much-I-loved-this-book kind of books. In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan I predicted in my January … Continue reading →

Posted in Asian, Bisexual, Canadian, Casey Plett, Coming-of-age, disability, Fantasy, Fiction, Gay, Graphic, Indigenous, Lesbian, list, mystery, Non-Canadian, Poetry, Queer, Sex Work, Toronto, Trans, Trans Feminine, Transgender, Young Adult | 8 Comments