What do you think?
Rate this book
Erase Genesis
“The earth / the earth / the earth / said”
In Erase Genesis, critically-acclaimed Kentucky poet and translator Rebecca Gayle Howell transforms the KJV creation story for the climate change age. Devoted to the same three chapters, Howell’s erasures raise a new myth—a story of the Earth’s intimacy with us. Here, man is not given dominion. Instead, the trees and the waters keep eternity, and the Lord Woman seeds tenderness as the only way forward.
A book-length poem with its roots in art, ecopoetry, progressive spirituality, and literary translation—Erase Genesis dismantles centuries of hurt as we bare our beginning anew, in abundance with Earth’s divine
“Be light and / let be”
In Erase Genesis, critically-acclaimed Kentucky poet and translator Rebecca Gayle Howell transforms the KJV creation story for the climate change age. Devoted to the same three chapters, Howell’s erasures raise a new myth—a story of the Earth’s intimacy with us. Here, man is not given dominion. Instead, the trees and the waters keep eternity, and the Lord Woman seeds tenderness as the only way forward.
A book-length poem with its roots in art, ecopoetry, progressive spirituality, and literary translation—Erase Genesis dismantles centuries of hurt as we bare our beginning anew, in abundance with Earth’s divine
“Be light and / let be”
- GenresPoetry
160 pages, Hardcover
Published April 28, 2026
About the author
Rebecca Gayle Howell
18 books32 followersRebecca Gayle Howell is a poet writing new myths for climate change. Among her awards are the United States Artist Fellowship, the Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship, and the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry. Writing from rural Kentucky, Howell's genre-bending work has received critical acclaim from outlets like Poetry London, Ms. magazine, and The Los Angeles Times, and she has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and German. From 2014-2024, she served as the longest-running poetry editor in Oxford American history; during Howell's tenure the OA received the Julia Child Foundation fellowship, the Whiting Award, and the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, among other honors. Howell's latest book is Erase Genesis, a new creation myth for climate change. Merging visual poetry, eco-poetry, progressive spirituality, book arts, and literary translation, Erase Genesis has been featured in outlets like Orion, Image, Southern Review of Books, and Harvard Divinity Bulletin and is available wherever books are sold.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Review @ EcoTheo:
https://www.ecotheo.org/etreview/xxk4...
https://www.ecotheo.org/etreview/xxk4...
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book of erasure poetry adds meaning to the spaces and breath teeming within the all-too-familiar creation narrative. Beautifully and painstakingly "unwritten," this version of Genesis speaks to our present time of ecological loss and spiritual hunger.
July 4, 2026
A prayer I’ll keep coming back to.
And the physical edition is gorgeous, I’ll treasure it forever.
And the physical edition is gorgeous, I’ll treasure it forever.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews