Writer Investigation – Brea Burton
Originally from Edmonton, Brea Burton graduated from the University of Alberta where she received her B.A in Comparative Literature. After she moved to Calgary and worked in the corporate communication industry. In 2006, she decided to continue her academic career and completed her M.A in Contemporary Canadian Literature at the University of Calgary. She has participated in numerous readings and a variety of local events. Also, Burton has produced a few chapbooks through her imprint and has most recently been published in magazines. She also performs at Conferences.
When I was reading the book “Booty” in class, I realized that there were two separate books in one. One half of the book was for Jill Hartman and the other half of the book had poems written by Brea Burton. At first, I read Hartmans work and though some were interesting, I wasn’t quite intrigued by her work. However when I turned the book around and began reading Burtons pieces, I couldn’t refrain myself from continuing from page to page. Her work was sooooo different, but I couldn’t help but smile or laugh, it was just work that made you gasp and think, oh my…. is she really saying this? Where are her thoughts coming from? Who would have thought these objects could be related to that topic? All these thoughts may have crossed my mind yet I could not stop reading.
Here’s a piece that I really liked by her and even decided to snap a picture of it on my phone lol :
tattoo tremble treble cleft palate hare lip bruise
against her mouth piece sex music space a
strange animal between her legs foreign place
pretty tiger furry bush beaver twat hairy camel
toes bearded clam. did you expect her to talk
about love? how about love? love music love
juices love making music between her legs.
music. box.
As you can see, it’s quite different and the way she changes from words to semi-complete sentences, or even questions kinda makes you go ….huh. (in an interested kind of tone) I wonder how she decides to structure her poems and when does she feel it’s the right time to put a comma or a question mark or even a period. Because to me, it works but I could never be able to do what she does. She’s amazing.
