Gutter Rainbows is now available for preorder at Querencia!
My 2nd full-length poetry collection, Gutter Rainbows, is now available for preorder at Querencia!
I started writing Gutter Rainbows while finishing my first book, field guide to autobiography in 2015, and it has been quite a journey to publication. It took years to brave the poems that wanted to come through, and during writing workshops with Bhanu Kapil & Hoa Nguyen, I began to muster the courage.
In 2021, I began sending it out to publishers, and on its first try, it was a semifinalist at YesYes Books. Early in 2023, it was accepted by another publisher. Unfortunately, that publisher refused to sign a contract, so I declined their offer after much consideration, tears, and hand-wringing. This is a deeply personal book, & I needed to ensure it retained its integrity. It was rejected a total of 32 times before it placed as a finalist with RiverRiver Books, just as it found its home with Querencia. It’s been a dream to work with Emily Perkovich, and I’m grateful to Emily and the other editors at Querencia. Never surrender the vision you have for your art! If poets don’t have integrity, what’s left?
I’m honored by generous blurbs from treasured writers Mk Chavez, Rob McLennan, & Denise Low-Weso. So much gratitude as well to early readers including Claire Blotter, Sharon Coleman, & Sherre Vernon who talked me through various iterations & helped catalyze a stronger book.
Gutter Rainbows is about transformation through trauma. It’s about growing up in Brooklyn & forming alliances with sidewalks. About being a girl on the verge of something shattering. About the fur.
These tender, gritty poems work with the language of rocks and minerals to tell a story of the relationship between women’s bodies and geological trauma, along with the sediment of betrayal that lingers in our foundation. This book is about trusting yourself enough to claw your way out.
Cover Art by Emily Perkovich, Original Art by Kevin Carr
You can preorder Gutter Rainbows from Querencia, add Gutter Rainbows to your To-Read shelf at Goodreads , leave a review on Amazon , every little bit helps a poet out!
