Understories Thrive on Loss: On Katy E. Ellis' Forty Bouts in the Wilderness

Understories Thrive on Loss: On Katy E. Ellis' Forty Bouts in the Wilderness

Forty Bouts in the WildernessKaty E. EllisMoonPath Press, 2024 In the Indigenous Tla-o-qui-aht dialect of the Pacific Northwest, there is no word for wilderness. The closest that tribal elders can come to approaching a translation of this concept into language is the word wałyu, meaning home. In the context of Katy E. Ellis’ rich poetry collection titled Forty Bouts in the Wilderness, “wilderness” can be read as the state of being outcast, un-en…