Image 1 of 7
Image 2 of 7
Image 3 of 7
Image 4 of 7
Image 5 of 7
Image 6 of 7
Image 7 of 7
Hardcover (Green Linen Bound)
A lush green linen hardcover wrapped in swampy Victorian atmosphere, this edition features the taxidermized gator framed like an antique portrait, equal parts macabre & elegant. Its ivory pages add a warm, archival feel that deepens the book’s gothic charm. *The hardcover version has a limited run of only 50 copies.
Paperback (Glossy Cover)
This glossy paperback delivers the same Southern-gothic bite in a lighter form, showcasing the taxidermized gator in all its uncanny glory on a smooth, high-shine cover. Its ivory pages keep the tactile richness while offering a more flexible, everyday read.
All pre-orders placed in December & January will arrive as a special bundled package: the book wrapped in black kraft paper paired with a green beeswax taper candle & an evocative incense stick reminiscent of the poems. Add the corresponding candle to your order to complete the immersive reading ritual.
“Reliquary of Grief” Soy Wax Candle by Marvel + Moon
Comes in a 3oz black tin
Plunge into a meditation on grief, motherhood, & the wild heart of the South with this deeply complex fragrance. It captures the earth's core, still hot with memory, marrying animalistic darkness with serene naturalism.
The blend begins in a boggy glade—a serene, naturalistic wash of damp forest floor where spongy, green moss dots the limbs of ancient trees. This gentle, earthy dimension gives way to bewitching heart notes of labdanum, a musky, animalistic resin, intertwined with luxurious leather. The seductive warmth of sweet tobacco leaves & amber anchors the base. This candle illuminates the space where the funeral becomes an altar & the leathery loss of a loved one is transformed into a shimmering, terrifying jewel. Let the flame carry you to the black water where you can commune with forgetting.
Scent notes: Moss. Damp Forest Floor. Leather. Amber. Labdanum. Sweet Tobacco Leaves.
Adorned with a wax gator.
QUOTES ABOUT THE BOOK:
Death Roll is a Southern Gothic dreamscape. Uncanny relics of grief decorate each poem's proverbial mantel while a wave of animal emotion gnashes and knocks them all over. Experimental, sonically brilliant, and deeply human, Edwards’ poems are the very spectacle in question. Listen closely to Gator Girl as she lovingly guides you through the grotesque muck of motherhood, loss, and pop culture. Tune in, in every sense of the phrase. This is a collection you won’t want to miss.”
-Kailey Tedesco, author of MOTHERDEVIL
“Trista Edwards' second collection, Death Roll, gloriously invents its own swampy music. Narrated by a doll with the taxidermized head of a baby alligator, these poems are fevered and feral—strange gems crystallizing in the brine of their grief. Here, every origin story bites back, with its mouth open wide, still singing.”
-Leanna Petronella, author of The Imaginary Age
“Trista Edwards’ Death Roll is a surreal song of taxonomy and taxidermy, a lyric bayou where we often “don’t know what’s alive / and what’s not.” We see the world of these poems through the glass eyes of a gator-doll, a creature with fickle memories of its once terrible hunger. Death Roll believes we are all animals in gaudy blouses, and its poems often attempt to forget humanity—touch, warmth, mason jar weddings— entirely, even as a very human grief lingers just below the surface of its waters.”
-Erica Reid, author of Ghost Man on Second
