Consents +/=/- Severances - Ziysah von Bieberstein

Sept. 2020 , 92 pages.

This is a collection of poems I wrote over the past few years as I continued to come to know myself here on Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe territory, as Jewish, as settler, as parent, and most confoundingly, as descendant and ancestor, alive at a time of great ecological crisis and transformation. I chose these poems as gifts. For this moment. For you. I anticipate that, whoever you are, they will find ways to rouse you, to jar you, to comfort you, to bless you.

Reflections from early readers:

“A necessary upheaval; a welcome intrusion. A meditation on place, past and belonging. This work speaks to an ecstatic kind of justice.” - Kait Dueck

“Consents and Severances invites the reader into a vulnerable journey of growth, transformation, learning/unlearning, and decolonizing. There is so much heart. I literally could not put it down.” - Mehrangiz Monsef

“Frank. Bracing. Gracing. Perceptive. Articulate. Playful. This is important work.” - Miriam Stucky Lyall

“Playful and profound! It delights and dares me at the same time.” - Hannah Renglich

Cover design by Bruno Merz. Cover art by Baz (front) and Marvin (back) von Bieberstein. Copy editing by Miriam Liba. Schlepping support from Gail Porter and Donald Eckler.