In beginning her latest collection with a simple visual overture, Melanie Dennis Unrau’s Goose asks us to forget what we’ve been told. Instead, the reader is invited to open their minds to a poetic deconstruction and rebuilding of Fort McMurray history - a history that is an oil sands history, but before and throughout that, a Métis history.
Geese are formed on a page from words arranged in “V” formations. Line sketches trace flight in the skies overhead Métis people crossing the open lands by sled, setting traps, checking lines for their catch, seeking shelter near a fire. We can see the struggle of hauling in their daily harvest, as the birds persist in their annual migration.
At times, the words of the text overlap, as one might look up to see a flock - or are repeated to mimic the urgent, percussive honks. (I wondered if this was done to hint at the coming struggle experienced by those forced into colonial practices or to give a nod to the lack of clarity in the history books?) Turns of phrase are modified, line by line, laddering in small increments over and over to imitate the alliterative, rhythmic wing beats of the feathered cobras.
The symphony builds, page over page. The next movement introduces the burgeoning oil sands and juxtaposes the wilderness with the new wildlife of industry. Sled dogs morph into casting fish nets, to be contrasted with wingback chairs and obedient dogs sleeping next to them. The line drawings of geese shrink, appearing to me like dots of oily sand.
Then, Unrau creates pieces using found text from Sidney Ells’ letters. Ells is described as the “father” of the oil sands industry, and this book is the result of musings made during her doctoral studies on “petropoetics”, an area that granted Dr. Unrau her PhD in English from the University of Manitoba. In the margins of her dissertation work, she began to experiment with different poetry styles and approaches to rewrite Ells’ letters - his colonial words imbued with paternalistic righteousness - as a means of writing to the Northland Trails. To use and give them new meaning. (One point that stood out to me was his remarks on the land being “barren”, an all-too-often characteristic attributed to Canada but reflective of who is making the statement and telling the story.)
Each piece is a slow morphing of words and images that, at large, tells the tale of a changing land and a dissolution of culture. Goose is something that continues to grow on me as a unique piece of art that invites the reader to hold space for those who have been here since time immemorial: the Indigenous peoples, dogs, and geese.
About the Author
Melanie Dennis Unrau is a poet of mixed European ancestry living on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Red River Métis in Winnipeg.
About the Reviewer
Bryn Robinson (she/her) lives in New Brunswick, Canada, where she uses her PhD in experimental psychology to help her support mental health research in the province. She prefers contemporary fiction, narrative non-fiction, graphic novels and poetry that is emotional, reflective, and if it can do it with humour, all the better. Bryn also writes on Campfire Notebook, where she regularly features original poetry. When not reading, she's searching for birds in the New Brunswick forests and seascapes, camera in hand.
Book Details
Publisher : Assembly Press (Oct. 7, 2025)
Language : English
Paperback : 138 pages
ISBN : 9781998336210