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awry by Chris McCreary

Cover art by Caitlin McCormack

Paperback, 66 Pages

Emerging from a post-pandemic netherworld, the poems in awry flit like half-remembered dreams streaming through our liminal devices. Listing between rupture & reconfiguration, these verses spin the threads of a web stitching diverse registers & reference points. Tarot cards & twenty-sided dice chart a course for a disoriented, Orphean talk show host. Staggering forth from his darkened soundstage, he searches for the perfect alchemical polymer of pop songs & corporate jargon to imbue midlife’s perilous journey with a synthesis of mythic significance.

AWRY OFFERINGS SET

Includes: awry Book, Sacred Solace Candle, Sticker, & Muslin Book Bag

This set is an immersive poetic experience with complimentary items evocative of Chris McCreary's, awry. The candle is hand crafted with intention in order to create a ritualistic reading experience as you unravel the threads of this enticing poetry collection.

Sacred Solace Candle by Marvel + Moon

“solace our carnage”

“Hung from one foot tethered,” ignite this candle and let its flickering flame illuminate the shadowed corners of memory & loss. Breathe in the sacred smoke of palo santo, “cleansing & grounding,” as sandalwood's ancient embrace whispers of resilience. This scent is a journey through a labyrinth of the senses, where “black raspberry” sweetness intertwines with the “electrical thrum” of grief. It is an invitation to sit with the broken pieces, to find solace in the carnage, & to emerge, beautifully awry.

Scent notes: Sandalwood. Palo Santo. Cedarwood. Myrrh. Clove. Spearmint.

Adornment: Carrion Skull Charm

QUOTES ABOUT THE BOOK

Without a doubt, Chris McCreary is a master of language. In awry, the part--whether it be an impeccably placed phoneme or the copper wiring of a palace--is just as absolutely integral as the whole. Like a lyric pop-up book, these poems peel back to reveal stunning images of lamentation and wonder for the reader to uncover upon every new read. There are rituals made from calamity and protection spells made from danger. I was enthralled from beginning to end, finding myself returning again and again for more. Now enlightened, “[what] broke open won’t / close.”

-        Kailey Tedesco, author of MOTHERDEVIL

In awry, McCreary’s poems do their signature dark burlesque to the tune of grief & loss. McCreary deftly blends popular culture & literary heavyweights like the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and The Iliad in a funhouse mirror until it becomes a “[l]abyrinth as circle pit.”  McCreary’s intensely lyric poems snap, crackle & pop with internal energy that is “the right vibration to saunter through walls.” Intricately wrought & populated by the likes of frustrated talk show hosts, Mr. Palomar and that erstwhile mariner, these poems deftly merge slapstick & catharsis “to solace our carnage.” & who doesn’t need that? 

-        Mark Lamoureux, author of FRIMAIRE

Like Jack Torrance, McCreary’s sensibility has always been here. He’s got a torque and verve that’s modern, but the diction and syntax in these poems riff on the medieval and Renaissance at times. The sounds in them change what I see when I look up from the page.

-        Stan Mir, author of Lacustrine Suite

CHRIS MCCREARY

Author Photo by Ellen Erikson

Chris McCreary is the author of five previous poetry collections as well as the chapbook Maris McLamoureary’s Dictionnaire Infernal (Empty Set Press), co-authored with Mark Lamoureux. A high school English and creative writing teacher, Chris lives in South Philadelphia.