I read Belcourt’s memoir back in February and some of his poetry and absolutely loved his writing. It is beautifully poetic and raw, and his debut novel, A Minor Chorus, is by no means an exception. 

I don’t think I can fully encapsulate what this novel is about and does but I will try my best. The unnamed narrator, a queer indigenous doctorate student in Edmonton, abandons his thesis to write a novel. Leaving the city to go home to rural northern Alberta, talking to the people from his past and his hometown to paint a portrait of life there, an autobiography of his home. It takes apart the traditional novel structure and is put back together with conversations, memories, reflections, and stunning prose.

For such a short novel it contains so much; it looks at colonialism and its lasting effect and the trauma it has caused, queer life and existence, the crimes of Canada against indigenous people, pressure placed on marginalized students in academia, police violence, white supremacy and hetero-patriarchal culture, so many important questions are asked and criticisms that need to be said. As the Goodreads synopsis says, ‘it shines a light on the realities of indigenous survival’. 

I have so many lines in this underlined, the prose were stunning and every sentence felt so thought out, you can tell that the author is a poet. While reading this, I constantly forgot that this was fiction, it felt so real and honest that I feel like it must be inspired by the author's own life and experience. I think it is such a stunning and important debut and I am so glad to see that it has been nominated for the Giller Prize. I’ve read a couple on the longlist and would love to read more, but I really think that this is such a beautiful and impactful novel that I would love to see win.
I highly recommend reading this, especially for readers who like less plot heavy books with gorgeous writing. I will definitely be reading everything Billy-Ray Belcourt writes, and I will just leave with this quote from the novel,

content warnings mentions of residential school, homophobia, police brutality, trauma, and possibly more