Hello dear readers, I think everyone is struggling right now. My family and I are no exception. If you’ve benefitted from my writing or my online presence, please consider contributing for some groceries and essentials as I navigate grant-writing processes. etransfers can be sent to erica.v.lee@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/ericavlee Thank you so much for helping me keep writing. EVL ..read more

Congratulations to the Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia (second gen), based in Saskatoon, on today’s hometown launch of Kîyânaw Ocêpihk. This is a gorgeous collection of stories from the smartest and bravest people I know. Here’s my foreword to the Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia collection, Kîyânaw Ocêpihk. Toronto & MTL launch info coming soon! If you’re interested in this book, email Jenn at yiwutopia@gmail.com. Kîyânaw Ocêpihk: Foreword by Erica Violet Lee You are holding in your hands something rare and precious. The words and photos that follow are a record of the lives of Indigenou ..read more

because so often, words fail, no matter how careful and true our intent. Words fail to feed or bring us shelter and words cannot remake broken windows, condemned houses words cannot remove the spikes from park benches. Now, when I sit to write an essay, another manifesto on freedom, I am halted. Overcome by poetry and lyric, because rhythm and bass are kinder in the face of the violent the senseless the cruel; the world. And love songs are theory, too, although those who should listen most carefully are the ones who refuse to listen at all ..read more

Originally posted on The Guardian. We’d all heard the stories, long before they started to receive this summer’s 24/7 coverage by every news station in Canada. Long before ground-penetrating radars confirmed the presence of unmarked graves, we knew that our missing family members did not simply “disappear” nor attempt and fail to run away from residential schools, despite what we were told by missionaries and government officials. Indigenous communities are necessarily close-knit, and we live in the histories of our people despite every effort at the eradication of our knowledges, culture ..read more

band aids I. On Movement A year ago this week, I saw Greta Van Fleet for the first time in Nashville, Tennessee. The band was playing two nights in a row, and I just couldn’t hold back when I saw those tickets go up for sale. The shows changed my life. I’ve seen Greta Van Fleet 8 times now, and their Canadian tour starts in less than a week. This fall, they’ll be in the Southern US alongside another of my favourite bands, Crown Lands. When I’m in the crowd at a show of a band or musician I love, nothing else matters at that moment except for that moment. It’s a powerful, meditative experience ..read more

To the dear readers of my website, First, thank you for sticking with me over the years as my writing and work have blossomed into something of which I’m truly proud. There are so many of you who are subscribed to my newsletter and website postings, which blows me away every time I log in. Some updates: I’ve spent the last year solely working on my book. It’s due out Spring 2023 with Penguin Canada, edited by the brilliant Canisia Lubrin. More exciting news on that very soon. Being a full-time poet and freelance writer has been a struggle – financially as well as physically taxing – but I genu ..read more

Reflections on Quill Christie-Peters‘ spilling out, spilling over (2021) Displayed at the University of Saskatchewan College Art Galleries January 14 – April 22, 2022 Quill Violet Christie-Peters, Desire spilling over body and time, N.D., acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. At first glance, the style of Quill Christie-Peters’ paintings appears steeped in the traditions of much Indigenous art that came before, as well as those pieces that are still held up as the epitome of “Indigenous Art”. Curved lines, circles, bright and interminglings of colour. And yet, there is a significant facto ..read more

Tansi friends. I’ll be in conversation virtually with the truly brilliant Michelle Brass (who also works with Indigenous Climate Action) on rematriation, reclamation, and repair this Wednesday, May 4. Michelle is one of the smartest people I know, no lie, and the things she’s taught me are invaluable. If you want to get connected with organizing in Saskatchewan, we’re here for you. We need everyone. Register here: https://wildaboutsaskatoon.org/conversations ..read more

I’m excited to be representing the gorgeous, decolonial rock band Crown Lands for CBC Music’s 2022 edition of CBC Music’s Canada Listens. I get to chat with four other brilliant panellists about why Crown Lands are truly great and why rock and roll still matters. (In other words, it’s my dream job.) A mystical trip for the senses and a celebration of Indigenous resistance, Crown Lands’ self-titled debut album is as necessary today as it is destined to become the stuff of Rock ‘n’ Roll legend. Check out the promo material & episodes every day this week on CBC or on-demand at CBC Listen ..read more

Tansi friends! I wrote an essay on an Indigenous power couple, Renee and Joel, & their gorgeous decolonial love story. It was so much fun to interview & write about Renee (Rama) and Joel (Dakota/Ojibwe), who met at a moccasin-making workshop 10 years ago and have been together ever since. As the legend goes, Joel was so absorbed in Renee he didn’t even finish one moccasin. …they believe holidays on the Gregorian calendar have become (and perhaps, always were) forced and a little fake: “time together”, marked on some colonially-prescribed schedule, as though love and care need to be ha ..read more