Marie “Annharte” Baker is the 2015 winner of the inaugural Blue Metropolis First People Literary Prize for her last poetry collection, Indigena Awry, published by New Star Books in 2012. When we asked Annharte to suggest an emerging poet she chose Chris Bose, a writer and performer from the N’laka’pamux/Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia.
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Marie “Annharte” Baker is the 2015 winner of the inaugural Blue Metropolis First People Literary Prize for her last poetry collection, Indigena Awry, published by New Star Books in 2012. From the Little Saskatchewan First Nation in Manitoba, Annharte has published several previous collections, including Being on the Moon, Columbus Coyote Cafe, and Exercises in Lip Pointing, all detailing her experiences as an Indigenous woman.When we asked Annharte to suggest an emerging poet she chose Chris Bose, a writer and performer from the N’laka’pamux/Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia. His first collection of poetry, Stone the Crow, was published by Kegedonce in 2009 with a follow up collection, A Moon Made of Copper, just released this past fall. Drawing from his own life experiences, Bose writes poetry about being human and growing up, from the reserve to difference places all across Canada.* * *Annharte on why she selected Chris Bose:Go figure. Chris Bose does a skull massage with his poetry on an audience. A reading of A Moon Made of Copper (Kegedonce Press, 2014) will provide a tingling sensation. Definitely a rude boy is he though also excruciatingly vulnerable in a way. Sure it is a bunch of poems written as he traversed Canada. Sure it is gut rhetoric. Finest and fiery wordings tell of wanderings in yet another creative territory of his multi-artistic versatile expression in art, music, literature, and film. He is dedicated to the spirit of green coyote retribution (check his blogs). Well, he is of the N’laka’pamux/Secwepemc Nation in BC, and currently spends his time in Kamloops.As a collective-minded coyote, his vision is to create opportunities for emerging and even established Indenou artists in all artistic genres. So he is a big push for Indigenous resurgence. The hidden holocaust of the residential schools and notice of child welfare abusive practices compel all to address dispossession. He’s a talker about serious issues like drug addiction and environmental devastation of traditional First Nations land. He is an activist for change to benefit for all Canadian artists and musicians. It is about time we got a Chris Bose to inspire us to further the rush of resistance writing.
Chris Bose on why he writes poetry & who his influences are:This is an easy question, because I write what I know about or experience. I’m not a “fiction” writer, because life is crazy enough that I don’t have to make things up. Ha ha. Growing up aboriginal in Canada isn’t the easiest experience. There’s violence, abuse, racism, but also family, ceremonies, songs, stories, and incredible amounts of laughter and good times. Everyone has a story, it’s just finding out a way to tell it. I guess I’ve also led a pretty crazy life, done an incredible amount of traveling and performing for most of my life, so telling these stories is a way to remember things.Some of my influences are Leonard Cohen, Charles Bukowski, Garry Gottfriedson, Richard Van Camp, Joanne Arnott, Janet Rogers, and Sherman Alexie. As well as the beats, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and others, Henry Miller and Anais Nin. When I was younger I read voraciously and devoured everything I could – whatever I could to expand my mind and boundaries as a writer and human being.* * *Don’t forget you can still get our National Poetry Month buttons and magnetic poetry in our merch store, but only until April 30th! Catch up on all our Poetry Primer series here or take home the anthology.
