Happy first day of December! "Your Mouth is Moving Backwards" (my new poetry chapbook) is now available!

"In this diorama, a mental conflagration
is connected with the speed of the ceiling fan.
It turns itself off and on, grows into an over rotating form of abuse.

A repetitive malformation in which
her arms are forced behind her back in bed again.
Her sheets are ripped off to strangle her."

(in the poem "Invaded Cores")

***

Happy first day of December 2023! I am extremely excited, delighted, and thrilled to have my new poetry chapbook, "Your Mouth is Moving Backwards" officially available from the wonderful independent press, Ethel Zine & Micro Press, as of today!

Just in time for the holidays and the New Year, at least for those of you who have peculiarly quirky gift lists involving strange, dark, emotionally twisted poetry.

The 28 poems in this collection are filled with internal and external violence and abuse, chaotic horror and entrapment, humans trapped behind walls or in beds, dolls thrown down the stairs and hiding in partially contained places, dolls pretending to be humans, humans pretending to be dolls, humans fused together with evil.

Some of the inspiration for some of the poems partly derived from Twin Peaks. 15 poems in the collection have the title "FLESH WORLD", which comes from the name of a magazine in Twin Peaks. But there are other titles too and other inspirations and insinuations too, including my own experiences, thoughts, and feelings doused into dark red poetry.

Dive into my latest strangely crafted poetic mess HERE:

https://www.ethelzine.com/shop/your-mouth-is-moving-backwards-by-juliet-cook

https://www.ethelzine.com/your-mouth-is-moving-backwards

Your Mouth Is Moving Backwards cover art

Ronette Pulaski/Phoebe Augustine

Me, April 2023

 

My NEW poetry chapbook, "red flames burning out" is now newly available from Grey Book Press!

"Some people might not like being called
unmistakably unstable, but I don't mind.
Because that's the way I roll

cracked eyeballs out of broken doll head holes and hell,

the broken pieces still have brains to fill
with fury and onward activity no matter how
many times they're knocked down.

Because that's the way I roll,
unable to be trapped into further oblivion.
I use gum wrappers to cover ripped out teeth
and a threesome of crooked fingers."

in the poem "My Dolls Aren't For Hunting"

My NEW poetry chapbook, "red flames burning out", as of April 2023, is now HERE, thank you to Grey Book Press! It is $8.00.

Find out more HERE - http://www.greybookpress.com/2023/04/07/internal-suffocation/

And then buy one HERE! - http://www.greybookpress.com/titles/

(Ten years ago, Grey Book Press published my "Poisonous Beautyskull Lollipop" chapbook and now ten years later, "red flames burning out" has become part of the Grey Book Press family! I am very excited and Happy Poetry Month and I truly hope that some of you will buy one!)

NEW! My poem From Hormone Imbalance to Death is newly appearing in Scapegoat Review, Spring 2023

"Sometimes we learn the hard way

that some mice will eat their own babies
like sadistic cannibals, leaving nothing but half a body
attached to a head that will always live inside mine."

in my poem From Hormone Imbalance to Death, newly appearing within the new SCAPEGOAT REVIEW SPRING 2023

read more HERE - https://www.scapegoatreview.org/spring-2023/juliet-cook

NEW! "Writing the Self-Elegy, The Past Is Not Disappearing Ink" will be coming to life in APRIL

Update: Now this poetry anthologies release date is the end of April (poetry month ) - it is currently available for preorder - AND when preordering, you can use the discount code SIUP20 and get 20% off!

I'm in the process of and really enjoying reading this book. The book doesn't technically exist in print until May, but since I have a couple poems in it, I received an online proof a while back, to double check my poems and I've been reading the other poems in there too and really loving a lot of them.

It's called "Writing the Self-Elegy, The Past Is Not Disappearing Ink", edited by Kara Dorris, includes work by 28 poets, and the poets offer poetry, an "essay" (interpreted various different ways), and a writing prompt.

I'm very excited to be included in this book, even more excited about reading all the other contributions, and will be even more excited when the book comes to life in print in May.

You can find out more about it here and even buy one if you want. 

http://siupress.siu.edu/books/978-0-8093-3906-8

NEW! My poem "When You Try to Make Something Sad Look Pretty" is included in Of Rust and Glass's new SCARS issue!

"You are the pallbearer wearing high heels

even though you never cared very much
for high heels. They are now sewn on
to the bottom of your feet.
Unable to be removed

from the unwanted, you wobble haphazardly"

***

Delighted to have my poem "When You Try to Make Something Sad Look Pretty" included in Of Rust and Glass's SCARS issue!

If you visit this link, you can click on the cover to see/read the full issue - or you can scroll down a bit and specifically click on A Word from the Editor, Artwork, Poetry, or Prose - and if you want to, you can purchase a print copy too!

https://ofrustandglass.com/no-11-scars/

My poetry chapbook manuscript, "red flames burning out" has been accepted by Grey Book Press!

I am delighted to announce that my poetry chapbook manuscript, "red flames burning out" was selected as one of three chapbooks to be published by Grey Book Press this year!

And congratulations to the other two writers whose chapbooks were also selected, Jessica Purdy and Karen Kilcup!

"First up, this Spring, will be GBP veteran and horror-poetry-queen Juliet Cook, followed by Jessica Purdy and Karen Kilcup. We’ll have more details on release dates next month."

You can read more from Grey Book Press editor Scott Sweeney on the Grey Book Press site here - http://www.greybookpress.com/2023/01/21/january-2023-update-selections-edition/

(I'm a Grey Book Press veteran because they published my poetry chapbook "Poisonous Beautyskull Lollipop" 10 years ago, which does not feel like 10 years ago, but was. I'm very excited to have another chapbook being published by them this year!)

Me ten years ago, January 2013, holding a copy of my Poisonous Beautyskull Lollipop chapbook, published by Grey Book Press

RED (a photo of me taken by Darryl)