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it was never going to be okay

Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
it was never going to be okay is a poignant collection of poetry and prose by Jaye Simpson, delving into the complexities of intergenerational trauma, Indigeneity, and queerness. The work reflects on the urban Indigenous diaspora and challenges traditional ideas of sexual identity through the lens of a trans woman. Simpson's debut collection moves beyond a linear narrative of healing to expose the persistent echoes of trauma, offering a raw, intimate glimpse into the process of coming to terms with pain and identity.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3999
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This collection will resonate with readers interested in contemporary Indigenous voices, LGBTQ+ themes, trauma and healing narratives, and poetry that challenges conventional forms and identities.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

"Sovereignty, vulnerability, honesty." - Ms. Magazine

it was never going to be okay is a collection of poetry and prose exploring the intimacies of understanding intergenerational trauma, Indigeneity, and queerness, while addressing urban Indigenous diaspora and breaking down the limitations of sexual understanding as a trans woman. As a way to move from the linear timeline of healing and coming to terms with how trauma does not exist in subsequent happenings, it was never going to be okay tries to break down years of silence in simpson's debut collection of poetry:

i am five

my sisters are saying boy

i do not know what the word means but-

i am bruised into knowing it: the blunt b,

the hollowness of the o, the blade of y

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Ms. Magazine praises the collection for its "sovereignty, vulnerability, honesty." Library Journal highlights Simpson's "raw, introspective portrait of trauma and healing," noting the precise control of language and emotive rhythms that make the poems resonate powerfully when read aloud. The work is described as both emotionally wrenching and linguistically mature.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780889713826

Publisher: Harbour Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 29 June 2021

Country: Canada

Imprint: Nightwood Editions

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 139.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 96

About the Author

jaye simpson is a Two-Spirit Oji-Cree person of the Buffalo Clan with roots in Sapotaweyak and Skownan Cree Nation who often writes about being queer in the child welfare system, as well as being queer and Indigenous. simpson's work has been performed at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (2017) in Peterborough, and in Guelph with the Vancouver Slam Poetry 2018 Team. simpson has recently been named the Vancouver Champion for the Women of the World Poetry Slam and their work has been featured in Poetry Is Dead, This Magazine, PRISM international, SAD Mag, GUTS Magazine and Room. simpson resides on the unceded and ancestral territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlilwəta'Ɂɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) First Nations peoples, currently and colonially known as Vancouver, BC.

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