Reviews - I Am a Body of Land

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I Am a Body of Land by Lee Maracle, Shannon Webb-Campbell

17 reviews for:

I Am a Body of Land is a great book of poetry, but not quite my favourite of Shannon Webb-Campbell's. However, after reading the acknowledgements in this book, I realize I didn't know the poet hadn't asked family members of MMIW to consent to the reproduction of their daughters/mothers/sisters' words in Webb-Campbell's previous book of poetry. A highly successful collection that inadvertently may have harmed vulnerable victims. However, it took courage to point out this failing in her next book and I know Webb-Campbell's intentions were good with Who Took My Sister? While this one was less impactful to me, it was still skillfully crafted and enjoyable. I fully recommend to fans of poetry and indigenous writings and perspectives.

apollonium's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark tense fast-paced

stephanieridiculous's review against another edition

2.0

emotional reflective fast-paced

I feel bad giving this 2 stars, but there just wasn't a lot of meat, even for just 66 pages. There were four or five poems that I liked & read several times, but overall it didn't really resonate with me. I'm unsure if that's because I'm just not the authors intended audience, or because it was lacking something. That I can't tell probably isn't a good sign, though.

bookterror's review against another edition

3.0

medium-paced

Unsatisfactory would probably be my main feeling regarding this collection.

The more I dive into poetry and explore what I like and don't like, the more I come to appreciate introductions and afterwords, any more context I can gain to help me experience these poems fully. The story surrounding this collection was what drew me in initially. The topic of "who gets to tell this story", the complexities when it comes to diaspora and mixed-race voices, and the public shaming are still not yet fully hashed out and it's rare to see an author take on responsibility for their past mistakes and not shying away from the public.

It is therefore no surprise that I enjoyed the poems that grappled with those themes the most.

You called me out when I needed to be
called in. Your grandmothers and my grandmothers
gave us more than this. You say I’m not
Indian enough, like I don’t already know.

Otherwise, I felt unmoored by many pieces and while I do enjoy pondering why Webb-Campbell might have chosen to combine topics in this particular way or why she decided on this particular reading order, I don't feel I understand enough of her to be able to answer any of my questions. It's inaccessible to me in a way I can't quite put into words.
It is a theme she also explores, but in paragraphs like this

denial repeats to eradicate Mi’kmaq existence
one too many anglicized names
spin webs of displaced identity

or her frequent use of the words "we" and "us", she is exploring the boundaries of her self against her upbringing and her community. But in my case, it just didn't connect. Like her poem The-o-ry Crit-i-cal, it just felt like she was adding random words after each This is post without creating a narrative thread.
As usual, it is still a nice experience (poetry mood + rain ambiance = optimal conditions) even I did not connect fully with it.