Deborah L. Davitt, "The Gates of Never" (Finishing Line Press, 2018)

Drawing on the author’s deep knowledge of classical literature, Deborah L. Davitt’s book of poetry The Gates of Never (Finishing Line Press, 2018) explores the intersections of myth, science, and humanity through her beautifully accessible poems, reflecting a variety of forms and linguistic styles. These poems morph between being moving, irreverent, unsettling, and erotic — offering up a richly textured collection of work.

“He writes me upside down

and backwards, so that

I hardly know myself yet,

but my hundred newly-open mouths

whisper secret meanings,

and offer atramentum kisses;

he soothes my wounds with

copper vitriol, making the words

holy and incorruptible,

incapable of fading into sepia;

yet as he kisses me, our tongues meeting,

the words spark white-fire

under my skin, the runes writhing

into new configurations”

– from “Testament”

Deborah L. Davitt was raised in Nevada, but currently lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and son. She has worked as a technical writer on contracts involving nuclear submarines, NASA, and computer manufacturing. Her poetry has received nominations for the Rhysling, Dwarf Star, and Pushcart awards; and her short fiction has appeared in InterGalactic Medicine Show, Compelling Science Fiction, and Pseudopod. For more about her work, including her Edda-Earth novels and her poetry collection, The Gates of Never, please see www.edda-earth.com.

You can find New Books in Poetry on Shuffle here.

Andrea Blythe bides her time waiting for the apocalypse by writing speculative poetry and fiction. She is the author of Your Molten Heart / A Seed to Hatch (2018) a collection of erasure poems created from the pages of Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyers, and coauthor of Every Girl Becomes the Wolf (Finishing Line Press, 2018), a collaborative chapbook written with Laura Madeline Wiseman. She is a cohost of the New Books in Poetry podcast and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association and the Horror Writers Association. Learn more at: www.andreablythe.com

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