Description
Poetry. Native American Studies. ASSI MANIFESTO is a celebration of the Innu land in the tradition of Joséphine Bacon. This telluric power is reminiscent of Paul Chamberland's Terre Québec. Natasha Kanapés challenge is to name her land, but also to reconcile opposites. In this collection of poetry, the author engages with the environment, colonialism, anxiety, anger, healing, solitude, and love. "Assi" in Innu means Land. ASSI MANIFESTO is primarily a land of women. If the manifesto is a public space, Assi is a forum of life, a song for those who open their spirit to its mystery.
"The land of the people (Innu Assi in the language we used to call Montagnais) is immense. Committing fully to it and making it your own is almost a calling. Natasha Kanapé Fontaine is already playing an important role among the men and women who are naming this world on the boundaries of the personal and the colossal. Nothing seems to frighten her in this quest for identity."—Mario Cloutier, La Presse
Author Bio
Natasha Kanapé Fontaine, born in 1991, is a slam poet, visual artist and environmental activist. Innu of Pessamit community of the North Shore, she spent most of her life in urban areas, as did many other Aboriginal youth of her generation. Noticed first in Rimouski where she was studying, and at events in Montreal in spring 2012, Natasha Kanapé Fontaine is prominent on the provincial slam scene—she's been dubbed the territorial slammer. The original French title, from which this current title is translated into English, earned her the prize for poetry of the Society of Francophone Writers of America, 2013. She figures on Radio-Canada's Plus on est de fou, plus on lit! list of ten young writers to watch. With an enduring commitment to the Idle No More movement, Natasha Kanapé Fontaine is part of the new generation of a people rising from the ashes, and who intends to take the place she deserves. She lives in Montreal.
Author City: MONTREAL, QC CAN