Each poem is carefully placed on the page, using indents, line breaks, and visual placements of the words to create a recognizable image. Within the book, simpson is intentional about the space they use. Adorned in a pulchritudinous cover designed by Angela Yee, simpson’s book captures the reader’s attention before even being opened. It allows the reader to see the actors that influence simpson’s writing and makes us privy to the ways simpson draws from the world around them. There are also poems as odes to songs by artists like by Florence + the Machine and Amy Winehouse, which adds to the lyrical nature of simpson’s work. In jaye simpson’s debut book, it was never going to be okay, the Oji-Cree Saulteaux writer grounds explores themes such as sexuality as a trans woman, Indigeneity, and navigating familial relationships amidst colonization and through the foster-care system. Shortlisted for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers, and the Indigenous Voices Award (2021). Reviewed by Namitha Rathinappillai jaye simpson, it was never going to be okay (Nightwood Editions, 2020), 112 pp., $18.95.
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