“When you are always “foreign,” you don’t expect belonging and can remain in a suspended, ungrounded searching state. You move differently in the world […] I just never expected to stay still, which in itself is a very specific state — of non-staying.”
There’s a similarity between writing and movement in the Black body. In knowing the steps and listening to the rhythm of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, if you’re feeling fancy). You’re taught the specific dance, an invitation to expression—to live in the moment. The same can apply to writing; thoughts and feelings are brought out into the world around you. Eventually, and with enough practice, you’ll add your flair unique to you. Your identity is established and you’ve successfully carved out a space for yourself. Congratulations! But there are moments in which that same sense of belonging is a lot more complicated to wade through—harder to achieve and maintain. It’s fraught with negotiations and compromise when, in reality, you just want a moment’s reprieve. To simply be—whatever that means.
Black Cake, Turtle Soup and Other Dilemmas is a diasporic collection of essays written by Gloria Blizzard where she explores the intersectionality of belonging culturally, geographically, racially and in language. With a MFA from the University of King’s College, being a multi-award winning Black Canadian writer and poet, she uses her remarkable skills in lyricism and thoughtful analysis to understand what it means to be in this constant state of movement. Pages interwoven with memories of childhood, a spiritual trek over mountain tops in sandals, the unique and sometimes overwhelming experiences of Trinidad or the very same TTC subway carts that breathe a different life beneath the paved roads of Toronto. These collections are a snapshot of the complexities in the shifting meaning of identity and its significance in our lives.
These essays are beautifully written, creating vivid scenes while remaining conversational; a shared space of raw vulnerability. Blizzard writes of moving around neighbourhoods, dog walks and cooking—all with the underlying feeling of never settling. At times, her words feel as if they’re addressing us directly. And it’s reassuring to know that I’m not alone in those feelings. Those experiences that I could not put into words (or know how to) are voiced aloud. Some essays can be taken as friendly advice and social commentary. Her collection invites readers to question the full scope of identity, of the external and internal influences that affect the current self. Black Cake, Turtle Soup is full of hope and how the process is non-linear. We’re privy to seeing her thoughts—anxious, brilliant, melancholic—unveiled on the pages with an optimism that incites determination. Ironically, as much as this collection works as a journal for Blizzard to make sense of identity, we’re also using these essays to understand our own feelings. She has this way of writing that draws readers in; emotional and critical in her retrospection.
Her lyricism has a surgical accuracy that leaves readers feeling raw and exposed. That’s a good thing! She cuts right to the bone and points out we’re all exhausted. A universal fatigue as Black women to pay attention to perception, gender (conformity), relationships, the education systems’ history of slaves, of ancestry and tradition. We’re expected to manage all of that. So yeah, we have a right to say we’re tired.
But then she writes:
“Sometimes, miraculously, regardless, we thrived.”
Succinct and straight to the point. This line stuck with me. We find different ways to flourish, to go beyond limitations. She sees us in a world that often doesn’t, or worse yet, misrepresents us pervasively and with the intention to mold us into shapes we have no say in. Blizzard treats herself, and us, as people—her words are compassionate. I genuinely love how she brings up her past and how it echoes in the present. That she tries to change in ways that will benefit her in the long run. We see the tension, the forgiveness, the acknowledgement of how things once were and the determination to keep going. We’re not rooted to the path we’re on. We’re invited to embrace our complex identities and history. Especially in a world that uses perception and being seen as another form of oppression and fetishization.
Black Cake, Turtle Soup and Other Dilemmas is almost like writing for yourself. Sometimes you don’t want to recognize the deep scars in your life. Other times, it’s as if you’re talking about anything and everything a mile a minute. You’ll even write about the wins and losses. Gloria Blizzard reminds us that in writing, and in extension movement, it helps make sense of our own world. We don’t have to internalize and repress. It’s better to mark it down—give these feelings a name, a moment of thought. And despite it all, we’ll figure out ways to accept our multi-faceted selves and push past life’s obstacles.
Gloria Blizzard is an award-winning writer and poet, and a Black Canadian woman of multiple heritages. Her work explores spaces where music, dance, spirit, and culture collide. She lives in Toronto.
Publisher: Dundurn Press (June 4, 2024)
Paperback 5.5″ x 8.5″ | 208 pages
ISBN: 9781459752801
With a BA in English from Toronto Metropolitan University, Alicia Beggs-Holder has experience editing and reviewing various literary works. Possessed with boundless curiosity, she’s an avid pursuer of anything interesting. From folklore to insects, she’s a “spooky” enthusiast with a passion for all literature and writing short stories or dabbling in traditional art.
- Alicia Beggs-Holderhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alicia-beggs-holder/
- Alicia Beggs-Holderhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alicia-beggs-holder/
- Alicia Beggs-Holderhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alicia-beggs-holder/
- Alicia Beggs-Holderhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/alicia-beggs-holder/
