Books

Belinda’s newly revised and expanded second edition of her memoir in verse reveals a tomboy’s journey from early childhood through to coming out in mid-life and performing as a drag king. Thirty-one new poems have been added to the first edition which was a 2020 finalist for two Saskatchewan Book Awards.

 

In Phases, Belinda Betker deftly captures what it is like for those who don’t fit within rigid notions of what it means to be a “boy” or a “girl”. Capturing different phases in a life, with power and nuance she takes readers on a luminous journey of a young girl’s coming-of-age, her burgeoning sexuality (and the confusion and disorientation therein), the pitfalls of an unhappy marriage, the triumphant release of coming out, and the liberating power of drag.