We are no longer carrying books for order through our press. Please order your copy through SPD, Amazon, or request through a fine independent bookseller.
Wheeler’s formal virtuosity wheels and sparks as she explores the impact of whiteness and sexism on the literal state—its history, its land, its educational institution—she occupies… “Wheeler’s research, her feral witchery, her poems themselves, are an answer, if not the antidote, to the state we’re in. -Diane Seuss, author of Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl
These poems showcase Lesley Wheeler’s acerbic wit and vast intelligence– all laced over with a compassionate spirit for what divides us and what makes us whole… This is a collection of uncommon frankness, a poet of uncommon grace. --Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of Oceanic and World of Wonders
What is the state of Lesley Wheeler’s The StateShe’s In? Accompany her there on her travels through history and culture, past and present, and you will discover more than you knew existed, including a spell for ridding oneself of certain politicians and a feminist bingo card. There’s exuberance in these forms, humor in this self-awareness, and best of all, fierce compassion for the lost and downtrodden throughout this powerful, intriguing collection. -Lisa Lewis, author of Taxonomy of the Missing
The tinder of Lesley Wheeler’s latest collection of poems ignites a tremendous bonfire with the glow of both history and the future illuminated in the present dark. In poem after exquisite poem she writes of both the spark and the ember, where “Scent resonates/even though the blooms are closed.” Here in her breathtaking work the landscapes of the past are indelibly linked with our hardwired present. -Oliver de la Paz, author of The Boy in the Labyrinth
