Britney Supernault: “Hey, June”
Emerging author Britney Supernault is breaking their way onto the scene with their self-published debut novel released back in February. Hey June tells the story of a 17 year old Native girl who wakes up alone on a hill, not knowing how or why she’s there, but as visitors begin to arrive and remind her of her life and something bad that had happened, she must decide whether to stay or go. With a passion not only for their own work, but for helping other artists realize their dreams and goals, Supernault is already establishing themselves as the next Native artist to follow.
Supernault has been writing for as long as they could remember, using it as a creative outlet and way to express their feelings, often dreaming about exploring the rest of the world, a dream that at the time, didn’t seem as feasible to them. Over the years, as their interest in the medium grew, and despite discouragement they received from teachers, they continued to develop their writing and eventually wrote their first book when they were 19.
At 21, Supernault began writing full time through various freelance platforms to support themselves, while their debut novel developed in a very natural, and almost unexpected way later on. The novel speaks on the nature of life and death, based on the experiences of Supernault after losing two of their friends when they were young. “I went to the cafe that day not thinking I was going to write, but I was about to turn 23, which is the age of my friends when they passed away, and there’s these big feelings with that, so I just started writing about it. Then, I just kept writing for eight hours that day, writing and writing. On the second day, I just repeated it, and it quickly formed into an actual book,” Supernault said.
In the end, the entire book was written in just three days. It became an exploration on Supernault’s feelings on grief, love, and friendship, as well their experience growing up as a Native in the modern world.
Wanting to share their story with others, Supernault began the daunting process of self-publication, which they had to completely teach themselves about. For them, it was a long process of trial and error along with plenty of research, and while it came with many difficulties, they were ultimately thankful for having learned so much during the process. Coming through on the other side, they recognized how learning how to self-publish didn’t have to be such a challenge, and are even developing ways that they can teach other independent authors how they can publish their own books.
With their debut novel having been out for some time and gathering its own audience, Supernault has been ecstatic to see their reactions. “I have been blown away by how the public has received ‘Hey June.’...One of the things that has stuck out to me is that Indigenous people reviewing my book say they just haven’t seen themselves represented in this way in a book. I’m very honored to do that, to have that expression.”
Supernault spoke on how self-publication gives authors more control over their stories and the way they’re shared with their audience, a particularly exciting prospect for Indigenous literature as a whole, which Supernault is just as passionate about. “There’s an emergence of doing stories that aren’t surrounding a cis white hetero character, the ones we’ve been fed for the last several decades. The shift is fantastic, but still excludes Indigenous people for a large portion of it. It’s not our stories being told yet, or at least, not our stories outside of trauma or residential schools. I think Indigenous literature is a great way for Indigenous people like myself to share our own very personal stories in a way that’s very consumable for other people….For Indigenous people specifically, we’re storytellers, so the act of telling your own story through a book is very powerful and has a depth that I don’t think can be reached in the same way as a movie or a tv show.”
You can learn more about Supernault on Instagram @cree_nomad, Tiktok @creenomad, and on their website.