Cree poet, scholar, and author
Billy-Ray Belcourt is a poet, scholar, and author from the Driftpile Cree Nation.
Belcourt's works encompass a variety of topics and themes, including decolonial love, grief, intimacy and queer sexuality, and the role of Indigenous women in social resistance movements. Belcourt is also the author of the poetry collection "This Wound Is a World" which was chosen as one of CBC's top ten poetry collections of 2017 and won the 2018 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize. Belcourt was the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and is currently an assistant professor in Indigenous Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
Biography.
Belcourt grew up in the community of Driftpile in northern Alberta. He was raised by his grandparents and began writing poetry around the age of 19.
As an undergraduate student, Belcourt studied Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons.) with First Class Honours in 2016. While at the University of Alberta, Belcourt was actively involved as "an advocate for LGBTQ and Indigenous communities" which included serving as the Aboriginal Student Council president. Belcourt is a Youth Facilitator with the Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN).
In 2015, Belcourt was selected as a recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship to study at Wadham College, Oxford University for the 2016-2017 school year. Belcourt was the first First Nations scholar to be selected for this prestigious award and with the scholarship's announcement, he received media attention noting him as a leader, role model, and change-maker.
In 2017 Belcourt graduated with distinction from Oxford University with a master's degree in Women's Studies. His master's thesis focused on "the role of Indigenous women in social resistance movements" and is titled "Decolonial Sight: Indigenous Feminist Protest and the World-to-Come."
While an active writer and poet throughout his university career, Belcourt published his first book, "This Wound Is a World" in 2017. This was followed by his second book in 2019: "NDN Coping Mechanisms, Notes from the Field." In 2020, he released his third book, "A History of My Brief Body: A Memoir", accompanied by "A History of My Brief Body: Essays."
In 2020, Belcourt completed a Ph.D. in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. His research focuses on what he calls the 'Indigenous paranormal' in art, poetry and film that has been produced by Indigenous peoples in the region currently called Canada. In January 2020, Belcourt joined UBC’s Creative Writing Program as Associate Professor in Indigenous Creative Writing.
"A Minor Chorus" was shortlisted for the 2023 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.
Reception.
Belcourt's works have generally been welcomed with praise and appreciation. CBC featured "This Wound Is a World" at the top of their top ten poetry collections from 2017 stating that the book "is memoiristic in approach, perspicuous in style and exacting in its determination to upend genre and form."
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson also praised Belcourt's book, choosing it as her favorite book of 2017. In Simpson's words, "Belcourt is a sovereign genius and "This Wound Is a World" redefines poetics as a refusal of colonial erasure, a radical celebration of Indigenous life and our beautiful, intimate rebellion." Lisa Tatonetti also praises the book, calling it a "powerful meditation on the intersections of violence, love, and the body."
"NDN Coping Mechanisms", Belcourt’s second book, was well received, being included in the Library Journal’s list of Best Books 2019, the Writers Trust of Canada Best Books of 2019 and CBC Books Top Canadian Poetry Book of 2019. It was shortlisted for the 2020 ReLit Award for poetry.
"A History of My Brief Body", his 2020 memoir, was described by Kirkus Starred Review as “An urgently needed, unyielding book of theoretical and intimate strength.” The book was a shortlisted finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir or Biography at the 33rd Lambda Literary Awards.
References.
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