Description
By Innu poet Maya Cousineau Mollen. Translated by Adam Haiun.
Originally from the community of Ekuanitshit (Mingan) in the Lower North Shore region of Quebec, Cousineau-Mollen was adopted at a very young age by an urban family as part of what is now known as the Sixties Scoop. Although Cousineau-Mollen did not grow up in an Indigenous community, her adoptive family maintained contact with her biological family, ensuring she remained connected to her culture and identity. Having faced adversity and rejection during her studies at Laval University due to her Indian Status, she has since worked to build and support community initiatives, through Aboriginal student associations and involvement in the Wolf Pack Street Patrol, for the Indigenous homeless people of Montreal. In The Liturgy of Savage No. 082, Cousineau-Mollen reclaims, honours, and makes space for herself and the rights of Indigenous women. A powerful and emotional poetry collection, The Liturgy of Savage No. 082 explores the realities facing Indigenous women in Canada and the emotional impact of homelessness, intergenerational trauma and systemic racism, all through a feminist lens as she considers the implications of femininity and identity in relation to the unceded land of her people.
-The Liturgy of Savage No. 082 was awarded the 2020 Indigenous Voices Award for Published Poetry in French, and sold out of its first printing.
-The Liturgy of Savage No. 082 has been called a “superb first collection” (ICI Quebec, Radio-Canada), and “a book to discover Indigenous literature” (Indigenous Spaces, ICI Radio-Canada). Ton Petit Look, one of the most followed women's websites in Quebec, said “The poetry of Maya Cousineau-Mollen contrasts a beautiful sweetness and an ancestral anger. The sections revolve around the concept of the body as unceded territory, and provide access to the emotional side of Indigenous history. Must read!”
-Maya Cousineau-Mollen received the 2022 Governor General's Award for French-language poetry for her collection Enfants du lichen.