The Big Melt

by Emily Riddle

The Big Melt is a debut poetry collection rooted in nehiyaw thought and urban millennial life events. It examines what it means to repair kinship, contend with fraught history, go home and contemplate prairie ndn utopia in the era of late capitalism and climate change. Part memoir, part research project, this collection draws on Riddle's experience working in Indigenous governance and her affection for confessional poetry in crafting feminist works that are firmly rooted in place. This book refuses a linear understanding of time in its focus on women in the author's family, some who have passed and others who are yet to come. The Big Melt is about inheriting a Treaty relationship just as much as it is about breakups, demonstrating that governance is just as much about our interpersonal relationships as it is law and policy. How does one live one's life in a way that honours inherited responsibilities, a deep love for humour and a commitment to always learning about the tension between a culture that deeply values collectivity and the autonomy of the individual? Perhaps we find these answers in the examination of ourselves, the lands we are from and the relationships we hold.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, LGBT, Canada, Memoir

88 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2023

Reviews

[Savannah Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is everything my little cree queer heart could have ever wanted. I felt so seen reading this. I wish I could send a copy to all of my cousins and aunties.

[Jiayuan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Riddle is sharp, brilliant and witty. She captures the ups and downs of millennial life on the prairies, anger in colonialism and climate change, nehiyaw joy and more. I saw her read poems at the Griffin poetry prizegiving where she was amazing. I loved this book, I loved that she forced me to bring out the Cree dictionary app and to learn. Brava.

[Annie MacKillican · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant collection of work by Emily Riddle. I love poetry collections that are so grounded in place and in language. I also love to see yet another brilliant take on Billy-Ray Belcourt’s “Cree Girl Explodes the Necropolis of Ottawa”, every version I see is so fresh and reminiscent of the original brilliance. Loved this loved this loved this!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy it. Read it. Read it again. And again. And again.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning!!! The Big Melt by Emily Riddle is full of fun references like tinder, twitter, Miley Cyrus and Vancouver. This debut collection explores her relationship with the land and ancestral ties. I loved all the poems and my faves are Audacious, Next Time When It’s-30°C Outside, I Hope You Have Someone With Thick Thighs to Cuddle and They:, and kikway itwe “joy”. I loved her virtual reading at the Real Vancouver writers’ series event.

Thank you to Nightwood Editions for my gifted review copy!

[Bry · Rating 4 out of 5]

"prince Philip died / and I wish I could celebrate / but my teachings don't allow me / to find joy in the death of an old man / the treaty six confederacy sends condolences to the queen / on the passing of her husband / as one should do / when your mother's husband dies"

Brilliant glimpse into the mind of a queer Indigenous poet living in the capitalist hellscape of impending climate disaster.

[Sarah Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poignant, stark collection from a new and distinctive voice.

Riddle's connection to art and the world around her is evident and alive in her writing, as she explores topics of truth, Indigenous culture, ancestral trauma and colonization.

Deeply personal and honest, a few of these poems really resonated with me. Purple, Learning to Count and It Flows Here, But part iv will all stick with me.

Thank you to the publisher and author for a copy to read and review.

[kdburton]

Library borrow.

I read much of this while sitting in my favourite movie theatre before watching a beautiful, abstract film made by an Indigenous woman based in Manitoba. She was there to speak before and after the film and talked about Indigenous disruption (specifically in film). This collection also feels like a disruption, all the more potent because it speaks to the geographies I am in every day.

[Emily Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bitterly sharp and brimming with resentment, albeit justifiably - as Riddle has "no disciplinary obligation to be joyful" (kikway itwe "joy," p.74).

"i would define violence as a transgression of natural law. i would define whiteness as the annihilation of natural law from one's collective being." (Revitalise Me, p. 76)

That's a tougher pill to swallow.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really excellent poetry in here, that mixes the mundane, the sexy, the sad, and the sacred - for this last, I am, of course, referring to the poem about the West Edmonton Mall wave pool. :) I entirely understand why it is winning so many awards

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is easily one of my new favourite books. I'm in love.

[Tiberius McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

OBSESSED with this collection.

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read these poems

[Karin Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got me at this line -
"is it sacrilegious to say i was horny for a thunderstorm"
Kept me at this one
"i would define whiteness as the annihilation of natural law from one's collective being"
Brilliant!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edmonton and Vancouver in one book, my favourite combination as a prairie dweller who also lived a west coast life for a decade. The next time I am in Edmonton I need to learn more. And I agree with the poet, Wayne Gretzky would totally support security guards posted at a colonist’s garden.