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lsparrow's review against another edition
4.0
such an amazing collection of poems. a great foil to reading the more detailed truth and reconciliation report.
the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Racism, Colonisation, Incest, Sexual assault, and Death
Moderate: Suicide
ianuh's review against another edition
4.0
what a meaningful insight into something so private as a people's shared suffering of the soul and identity, generational trauma, and the resulting anger from both.
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
4.0
Some really beautiful poems in this collection. The highlights — the juxtaposition between natural landscapes and botanical descriptions and colonial structures and religion. As well, the writing is so nuanced in how it treats love / pain. Those we love hurt us most. Culture and trauma intertwined. Besides the content of the poetry, the verse itself was good but unremarkable. Which I don't mind, I'm much more content focused with poetry.
avovo's review against another edition
4.0
what a meaningful insight into something so private as a people's shared suffering of the soul and identity, generational trauma, and the resulting anger from both.
elizabethlk's review against another edition
5.0
This is my first time reading any poetry by Louise Bernice Halfe. This volume sparked my interest at the library, and I am incredibly glad I checked it out.
Burning In This Midnight Dream is filled with beautiful poems that recount the struggles of a person, a family, and a community in the aftermath of the Indian Residential School system, written as Halfe was going through the TRC process. The poems almost form a narrative, almost a poetic memoir. Many of them stand on their own, but most of them are best read in the book format. The poems cut to the core with their honesty. This is the best poetry I have read so far this year (and I know January isn't even through yet, but this is the fifth poetry book I have read this month, so I feel like it's not entirely meaningless to say this).
As fantastic as this is, I definitely intend to look into reading more of her work. I also recommend this to anyone looking for good poetry or to anyone looking for the voices of those who attended the Indian Residential Schools.
Burning In This Midnight Dream is filled with beautiful poems that recount the struggles of a person, a family, and a community in the aftermath of the Indian Residential School system, written as Halfe was going through the TRC process. The poems almost form a narrative, almost a poetic memoir. Many of them stand on their own, but most of them are best read in the book format. The poems cut to the core with their honesty. This is the best poetry I have read so far this year (and I know January isn't even through yet, but this is the fifth poetry book I have read this month, so I feel like it's not entirely meaningless to say this).
As fantastic as this is, I definitely intend to look into reading more of her work. I also recommend this to anyone looking for good poetry or to anyone looking for the voices of those who attended the Indian Residential Schools.
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