A History of My Brief Body is the debut essay collection from talented young writer Billy-Ray Belcourt, who has already received great praise for his two collections of poetry. Do not make the mistake of assuming that a debut equates to a tentative toe-dipping experience into the mind of the writer. Belcourt’s voice and perspective are fully-formed and unflinching throughout this series of twelve essays.
Belcourt holds nothing back as he weaves his way through these pieces, sharing experiences of coming-of-age, queerness, and as a member of the Driftpile Cree Nation. He pushes against the history of colonialism, the violence and neglect perpetrated against NDNs, and the ongoing oppression of “otherness” as he grows into himself. Yet, all the while he chooses to find and celebrate joy, to seek utopia, which is a powerful reminder to the reader that hope exists — it must exist! — and the importance of each single voice being heard cannot be underestimated in helping to carve a path forward. Belcourt explores a range of themes in this work, from love of the familial, communal, and romantic varieties to loss; from sexual exploration to the probing of self and identity. All of this is set down within and reflected by the works of other seminal writers who have clearly had a profound influence not only on his work, but also his life.
A few of my favourite essays that you won’t want to miss include:
- “A History of My Brief Body”: A walk through Belcourt’s feelings of loneliness coming-of-age and how this solitude was informed by being queer and NDN. An intimate, unguarded reflection upon a selection of memories, the images which anchor him to this pain.
- “Loneliness in the Age of Grindr”: Belcourt’s experiences in the age of Grindr, where he sublimates his own wants and needs to the often fetishised desires of the men he meets. In particular, he digs into the relationship between agency and risk, how they inform one another in these often anonymous sexual encounters, and how the public health system fails to meet the needs of his community.
- “Robert”: Unlike many of the other essays in this collection, Belcourt zooms in here to magnify one particular past relationship. He beautifully relays feelings which everyone can relate to — from the thrill of new infatuation to the inevitable surrender that follows, the way that love can break us and how we are forced to pick ourselves up and move along when it all ends.
- “Please Keep Loving: Reflections on Unlivability”: A heartwrenching expression of how suicide has become an epidemic across a number of NDN communities in Canada. Belcourt labels what has driven so many to the point where they consider life simply unliveable, posits what must be done to bring this rampant loss of life to a halt, and urges NDN youth to keep choosing love, to know that there is hope.
Deeply personal and raw, Belcourt flays himself wide open in a way that is simultaneously delicate and jarring. And while his history may be brief due to his limited years on earth, his writing overflows with insight and conviction. There is an alluring complexity to the language and style of his writing, as well as the subject matter, which will leave the reader looking forward to more from Belcourt’s hand in the future.
A History of My Brief Body is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore. Many thanks to Two Dollar Radio for providing me with an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The youngest ever winner of the Griffin Prize mines his personal history in a brilliant new essay collection seeking to reconcile the world he was born into with the world that could be.
