Brandi Bird

January 14th, 2026

Eating disorder, depression. These are the raw starting points of Pitiful (House of Anansi $22.99), Brandi Bird’s searing second poetry collection, which confronts mental illness, body sovereignty, sexuality and survival with unflinching clarity. An Indigiqueer Saulteaux, Cree and Métis writer from Treaty 1 territory, Bird brings a fiercely personal lens to questions of care, power and harm, particularly as they affect Indigenous girls, women and two-spirit people. Drawing on forms that feel at once confessional, interrogative and diaristic, Pitiful examines how patriarchy, medical sexism, religion and surveillance culture shape both illness and recovery. 9781487014087

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