Following our September 30 blog feature, You Shine Today: Indigenous Women, Poetry and the Power of Being Heard, LITE is continuing the conversation by highlighting a few of the poets featured in the collection and sharing more of their reflections in their own words.
You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost) is more than a collection of poems. It is a reflection of memory, family, identity, resilience, and the experiences that shape how people understand themselves and one another. Through these conversations, contributors speak candidly about the inspiration behind their pieces, the emotions and memories that guided their writing, and what it meant to see their voices become part of a shared collection.
These interviews offer a deeper look at some of the writers and the significance of being heard, recognized, and able to share one’s own story on one’s own terms. By continuing to honour these voices, LITE is proud to support the ongoing celebration of storytelling, connection, and community.
Denise Cook
Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your connection to this collection?
I’m Denise Cook. I was in the poetry workshop that Di Brandt taught in the Creative Arts Hub for North Point Douglas. She introduced us to a new style of poetry writing that actually let my words out, and that felt good. And here it is. I’m proud of everyone.
What inspired the piece or pieces you contributed to You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost)?
This poem came from the morning I was getting ready to go to our first poetry class. There was a piece on CJOB radio about identifying Ashlee Shingoose’s remains at the Brady Landfill, and that really hit me. She belongs to somebody. She’s somebody’s someone.
As we were walking to the library for the class, I remember thinking that I was happy she had been found. She has a name, and now we all know it. I wanted her to be remembered. It felt like she had been so lost.
Di just let us write what we were feeling and accepted it and, in fact, encouraged it. I feel like our little group became something right off the bat. And now here we are.
What was the writing process like for you? Was there a particular experience, memory or feeling that shaped your work?
That one poem specifically came from feeling really sad that she had been found. With the other poems, I felt myself holding back a little because it can be hard for me to share my feelings all the time.
But I used to always write, and I always kind of wanted to be a writer.
What does being part of this collection mean to you personally?
It means a lot. From the very first class, I felt like we all just connected. We were all able to open up and share words. There was no judgment. Everybody just encouraged each other.
And now we’re actually authors.
What do you hope readers take away from your poem or from the collection as a whole?
I had never really thought about that before. I didn’t mean for it to be anything.
But now I want people to know that we’re pretty smart cookies. We have lots to say. And sometimes it doesn’t have to be anything long. Just to the point, to the heart of the matter.
Can you share the poem with us now?
It’s called Ashlee.
You shine today.
You are not lost.
You have strength.
You hold on.
You are not lost.
You belong.
You always did.
I knew you had a name.
I knew I’d know you eventually.
Buffalo Woman.
You are not lost.
Rest in love.
Ashlee. Ashlee.
And as I read those words, I mean them for everybody. Because we all have people who love us, and we all need to remember that.
Why did you choose that particular section?
Because I mean it. To my friends, my daughter. I mean it. Everybody shines. We all have a purpose. And we all belong.
Fran Dauphinais
Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your connection to this collection?
I have maybe eight or nine poems in this book.
What inspired the poems you contributed to You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost)?
My life. My life and the life I never had.
Most of these are about the mother I really needed, who was never there.
What was the writing process like for you? Was there a particular experience, memory or feeling that shaped your work?
It was a good experience. I had never written poems before, and Di showed me how and taught me how.
What does being part of this collection mean to you personally?
A lot.
My kids are going to remember me now.
What do you hope readers take away from your pieces or from the collection as a whole?
To understand why I am the way I am.
To understand that I’m not a very trusting person and that it takes a lot for me to trust.
I think this says it all.
Is there a particular poem you would like to share?
The poem is called Mother, Why?
Mother, why didn’t you love me?
Why did you have me?
Why did you keep me?
Why didn’t you give me away?
Mother, why?But it made you stronger.
I didn’t need to be stronger.
I needed to feel.
I needed to be safe and loved.
Mother, why?There is no love.
There is no trust.
I am broken and stronger.
Mother, why?
Why did you choose that particular poem?
Because I’ve always had that question: Why, Mom? Why did you have me?
That was exactly what I wrote about. There was no love, no protection that a mother is supposed to give to her child.
Lana Fontaine
Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your connection to this collection?
I’m Lana Fontaine. I have four poems in the collection, including My Daughter and My Soulmate.
What inspired the poems you contributed to You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost)?
I guess the loss of my family, a couple of them.
What was the writing process like for you? Was there a particular experience, memory or feeling that shaped your work?
The one I wrote, I Miss You, is about my daughter.
I lost her about ten years ago. She was shot in a fight.
Losing her was really hard. The poem says it all.
What does being part of this collection mean to you personally?
It really makes me feel important, like to myself.
I had never really been interested in something like this until I met Di. It has brought out a lot of feelings that I kept inside.
What do you hope readers take away from your poem or from the collection as a whole?
To feel.
To feel my pain, and to understand what I’ve been through and what I’m going through.
Madison Yuzicapi
Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your connection to this collection?
My name is Madison Yuzicapi. I was in a poetry workshop with Di, and these are poems I wrote during the class.
What inspired the poems you contributed to You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost)?
The poems I wrote were about family and how much they meant to me.
What was the writing process like for you? Was there a particular experience, memory or feeling that shaped your work?
The process was kind of difficult, but it was also kind of easy because I was able to let out how I felt about these people.
What does being part of this collection mean to you personally?
I feel like we’re able to share our feelings with others, especially about grief.
What do you hope readers take away from your poem or from the collection as a whole?
I hope they understand that they’re not alone, especially when they’re dealing with deep grief.
Is there a particular line from your work that you can highlight?
“I had to move away to feel closer to you.”
My grandma loved the mountains, and I moved away so I could feel like she was seeing the mountains with me too.
Continuing the Conversation
These conversations remind us that storytelling is not only about preserving words on a page. It is about creating space for people to be heard, remembered and understood on their own terms. Through grief, family, memory, loss and connection, the contributors to You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost) offer deeply personal reflections that speak to experiences far beyond any single poem.
LITE is honoured to continue sharing these voices and to help create space for stories that deserve to be heard. We invite readers to continue exploring You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost), to listen closely to the women featured in the collection, and to carry their words forward with the care and attention they deserve.
Listen to You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost)
You Shine Today (You Are Not Lost) was also brought to the airwaves through 107, where selections from the collection were shared through readings and conversation.
Hearing the work aloud offers a different way to experience the collection and the voices behind it. Explore the radio features below to hear the poems and conversations beyond the page.