NDN Coping Mechanisms by Billy-Ray Belcourt

Paperback, read September 2020

Billy-Ray Belcourt’s mixed-genre book NDN Coping Mechanisms made my dumb little brain work hard, but I am so grateful for it. I heard Billy-Ray deliver a lecture on poetry last year and I was absolutely floored by how sharp, how wickedly intelligent, how astute and incisive and direct he is, while still embodying a generosity and softness for readers and listeners willing to do the work. This book is no exception. It aches and it rages and it yearns and it teaches, and I am so grateful for every book that is so kind as to teach and rage at the same time. I’m out of practice when it comes to writing about the writing of a book, so this post contains just my feelings, and all my gratitude.