Billy-Ray Belcourt has populated his first short story collection with a pantheon of Cree characters, each presenting a different possibility for modern Indigenous life. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Billy-Ray Belcourt has populated his first short story collection with a pantheon of Cree characters, each presenting a different possibility for modern Indigenous life. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Billy-Ray Belcourt has populated his first short story collection with a pantheon of Cree characters, each presenting a different possibility for modern Indigenous life.
The cast of “Coexistence” started with just one couple. Belcourt wanted to write a story about queer, Indigenous partners who stay together, in which nothing traumatic happens. “I didn’t see that represented in the literary landscape and so I felt a certain degree of urgency in portraying that kind of story,” he said.
But as he was writing their story, which comes second in the collection of 10, more characters presented themselves to him and the book began to take shape — along with an expanded mission. “I was interested ultimately in what I’ve been calling the Indigenous domestic: the ways that Indigenous people go about their daily lives, how history manifests in that daily sphere, but also how they make choices around love, identity, art in ordinary ways.” Some of the stories are connected — that.
