Poetry Express: Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer

During the month of April, you can buy any of our featured Poetry Express books for 15% off + free shipping in Canada. Just use promo code NPMexpress at checkout.  Or find them at your local independent bookstore with our Shop Local option.All Lit Up: What was it that drew you to poetry? Why do you write?Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer: I started writing poetry when I was sixteen only at the time, I didn’t know I WAS writing poetry. I needed an outlet to express myself. I write to honour my grandparents who guided me in dreams to read and to write. In the process I am also honouring the Elder who prophesized this journey.ALU: What has been your most unlikely source of writing inspiration?LBH: First to inspire means to “breathe in” so the unlikely places are everywhere and anywhere. However, having said that while travelling in Rome for example I dreamt of ceremony from home. That dream wove itself into a poem. As well, when I was travelling throughout China I’ve written about their markets and their temples, woven through my poets. I actually have many examples of those “unlikely sources.” But at the moment, this is what I am inclined to share. ALU: Has your idea of what poetry is changed since you began to write?LBH: Though I’ve studied a bit of poetry none of the language or format stuck to my skin. Poetry is in my language, in the landscape I am in and walking and working with the spirit guides – the wind, the rock, the fire, the earth. One word in my language can take at least a page to dissect if not more and it is fully of the spiritual, the cosmos and this earth. Poetry is a condensed form of story-sharing, only it is full of images, emotions, intellect and the physical. ALU: What are you most in the mood to read these days? Any poets you’re especially enjoying? LBH: I like to re-read and reflect on books I’ve read over the years on matters of philosophy and spirituality, etc. I also read a fair number of novels and take my time when reading the poetics. In the past I’ve loved reading the late Patrick Lane, and still dive into Tim Lilburn’s work as well as explore what Lorna Crozier is writing. I have enjoyed Ovide Mercredi’s gentle works, but sure-footed and reflective. Also my buddy Gregory Scofield. I read as much native literature as I can.  ALU: Describe your ideal escape.LBH: I live in the country, so my ideal escape is home. However, having said that for the last four years I have been walking in many parts of this province covering between sixty and over a hundred miles with a group of serious walkers organized by a fine man. He maps out the destination, trails, accommodations, historical sites and what have you. We bring our own camping gear and set up our tents at the end of each day. We have a support vehicle for the blistered feet, arthritic knees, etc. and they ferry us back to where we left off our cars/trucks, etc. I also love canoeing, seven-day canoe trips in the far north. We go with another couple who are well versed on the lakes/rivers and campsites.

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Sample poems from Louise’s new books, below.

Click here to download a poem from awâsis – kinky and dishevelled (Brick Books)

Click here to download a poem from Blue Marrow (Kegedonce Press)

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 Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky DancerLouise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer was raised on Saddle Lake Reserve and attended Blue Quills Residential School. Her early books, Bear Bones and Feathers (1994), Blue Marrow (2004), The Crooked Good (2007), and Burning In This Midnight Dream (2016) have all received numerous accolades and awards. Her latest poetry collections are awâsis – kinky and dishevelled and Blue Marrow. Halfe was awarded the Latner Writers Trust Award for her body of work in 2017, and was awarded the 2020 Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence. In early 2021, she was named Canada’s parliamentary poet laureate. She has also been granted a lifetime membership in the League of Canadian Poets, and currently works with Elders in the organization Opikinawasowin (“raising our children”) and lives near Saskatoon with her husband, Peter. 

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 During the month of April, you can buy awâsis – kinky and dishevelled and Blue Marrow along with any one of our other featured Poetry Express books for 15% off + free shipping in Canada with promo code NPMexpress. Or find them at your local independent bookstore with our Shop Local option.Thanks for following along with us all month as we celebrated 21 Canadian poets writing in all sorts of spaces! Until next year, happy National Poetry Month!