katherena vermette has a new poetry collection out in fall 2025 — read an excerpt now
katherena vermette is back with her third poetry collection, Procession.
In this book, she explores what it means to be at once a descendent and a future ancestor. Procession is a grouping of frank and heartfelt poems that examines ancestral dreams, 1980s nostalgia, prairie life and how it changes as a child, parent and future elder.
"For me, poetry is intensely personal," said vermette in an email ot CBC Books. "It moves slow, and lives in and among all the other things."
"These poems are inspired by many things, or maybe everything that's happened since the last book, which was published in 2018 — lifetimes ago! Since then, I've said hello to new humans and goodbye to others. This is very much about the in-between."
If you're interested in poetry, the 2025 CBC Poetry Prize is currently accepting submissions. You can submit an original, unpublished poem or collection of poems from April 1-June 1.
vermette is a Michif (Red River Métis) writer from Winnipeg. Her books include the novels real ones, The Break, The Strangers and The Circle, poetry collections North End Love Songs and river woman and the four-book graphic novel series A Girl Called Echo.
grimoire
before you were this
you were
the dream
of a hundred martyrs
you were
a wish
the sort that lingers
under young girl whispers
into young girl ears
a spark in a loving eye
prayer floating in wind
you were as light
as the seeds
sprinkled about
this wide red earth
now you are
a ridge
brief plateau
on the mountain of revolution
one the ancestors
looked up to
and said
one day
your birth has taken
centuries
a labour that nearly killed
them all
you are
now
and you have
so much magick in you
stories that have waited
lifetimes
to be told
Excerpted from Procession by Katherena Vermette ©2025 Katherena Vermette. Published by House of Anansi Press.
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