to rule the desert
From career poet Monica Robinson comes a debut queer speculative fiction desert gothic novella. Set along Route 40 in the American Southwest, "to rule the desert" loosely retells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through a queer women's lens. Ava and Quinn find themselves at odds with the strange specters that haunt the desert during a roadtrip-gone-wrong, and must fight across the dangerous landscape to find one another again.
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Out now!
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peeling the yellow wallpaper
peeling the yellow wallpaper is an experimental chapbook of poetry, prose, and art inspired by the classic gothic short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This chapbook explores concepts of estrangement, grief, bodily disconnect, and motherhood, as well as paying homage to the original inspiration by exploring malpractice and inaccessibility in women's healthcare both in our past and in the current age.
This work utilizes elements of speculative poetry, gothic prose, and impressionistic, eclectic art to convey a unique and understated narrative that is equally as prevalent now as it was when Gilman first contrived to write the original text. Though informed by this work, this chapbook is a reaction rather than a retelling, and traverses mutable narratives in a fresh, engaging fashion that embraces, rather than shies away from, the weird and the wild in literature and beyond.
EARTH IS FULL; GO BACK HOME
A COSMIC UNDERTAKING, A HESITANT STORY OF ANGELS, A COLLECTION OF RELIGION AND WHIMSY. THE ATMOSPHERIC RAMBLINGS OF AN EMPYREAN POET.
EARTH IS FULL; GO BACK HOME is the second poetry book from independent poet, author, and artist Monica Robinson.
This collection spans millennia and mythology, as timeless as it is modern, guaranteed to resonate with even the most resistant.
From conversations with guardian angels to odes to Achilles’ rage, EARTH IS FULL; GO BACK HOME pays homage to old myths and creates new legends all at once. For fans of Andrea Gibson, Allen Ginsberg, or anything in between, this is the collection for you.
As always, “if you are still here: thank you”.
BEYOND THE VEIL
"Dark, beautiful, powerful and heartbreaking… a diverse group of talented authors venture ‘beyond the veil’ to bring you fifteen supernatural tales of queer love."
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A compilation of original fiction, including Monica Robinson's "after the flood", a queer speculative fiction short story that explores a queer love within the context of a collapsed world, and simultaneously explores the complexity of sibling relationships, body autonomy through the lens of body horror, and the strange and speculative ecological effects of the pollution we are experiencing in current times.
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Addition contributors include: Amanda M. Blake, Caitlin Marceau, Emmie Christie, Evelyn Freeling, Felix Foote, Georgia Cook, Jess Koch, Kayla Whittle, Kristin Osani, Kyle E. Miller, Monica Robinson, Morgan Melhuish, R. Wren, S.J. Townend, Sam Kyung Yoo
BURY ME IN
IRON AND IVY
Released through the Cup & Dagger series from Sword & Kettle Press, bury me in iron & ivy: a midwestern gothic, relayed in pieces is Monica Robinson’s collection of speculative hybrid prose and poetry that digs into the hidden corners, the forgotten fields, and the liminal spaces of the American Midwest.
Each mini-chapbook in this limited run was assembled and bound by hand. The book consists of 3 sheets of cardstock bound with emerald linen thread, and is available in the Sword & Kettle Shop while supplies lasts.
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WITCHES
This is a zine about witches. No, not those witches.
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Original typewritten prose/poetry in the stream of consciousness style from Monica Robinson. This zine is focused around witches, the archetypes and stereotypes that define a sense of magic and self in a way that strives to free the reader from literary and societal conventions both.
The contents of the zine were typed on a Royal Administrator, and the zine was printed on 80lb cardstock and is perfect-bound by hand, as a limited copy run to celebrate Halloween.
EXIT WOUNDS
(n.) exit wound: a wound made by a bullet or other missile passing out of the body. See also: the undefined pain between entry and exit.
A compilation of original poetry, photography, and art depicting the pain upon entry and exit, and everything in between.
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Originally published through Lulu Press, a perfect-bound paperback with cream interior and black ink, featuring a full color exterior, size 6 x 9