RDSP Signs E.F. Schraeder’s Debut Poetry Collection
Raw Dog Screaming Press (RDSP) is thrilled to announce the signing of a book deal with author E.F. Schraeder for her debut full-length poetry collection, The Price of a Small Hot Fire, to publish this summer.
A careful study on estrangement and loss, The Price of a Small Hot Fire excavates the archetypal horrors of monstrous motherhood, from abandonment and unsteady reconciliation to the grave. Experimental and intimate, E.F. Schraeder’s collection gives voice to a semi-autobiographical examination of a griefscape from a queer lens.
“The Price of a Small Hot Fire cuts close to the bone for me, having grown out of a personal journey dealing with the death of an estranged parent,” Schraeder said. “The emotional fallout of our short reconnection led to some surreal insights and changes in perspective about lost childhoods, the spell craft of maternal bonds, and the shadowy cultural expectations of motherhood. These poems collect that story and reframe it, mapping a reflection on family, death, and grief.”
This collection of around sixty poems is an emotional journey that will find readers clutching their hearts at both the subtle moments and those that cut like a knife. The raw feelings seep onto the pages, encompassing the vulnerability of open wounds, while at the same time cutting through a stone-like exterior to see the blood still inside. It’s not only a reading of poetry but an internal vibrating contemplation of the maternal relationship and how it molds us.
For example, in this stanza of “Afterbirth (Interior Needles)” readers are immediately held captivated and become invested:
She pressed her lips to a bundle of thistle
then planted the spiny web within me,
deep in the cavity that held my heart—
nested like tiny daggers of teeth.
Near the end, in “Oceanography”:
We sorted into distant reefs, and I woke alone
remembering all I’d forgotten: how love tastes
of saltwater and fire, how easily I burn.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be working with RDSP on this poetry collection,” Schraeder said. “Working with Jennifer Barnes and the folks at Raw Dog Screaming Press has been a long-term goal ever since I started reading the outstanding work they publish. When I met Jennifer at StokerCon and had my first chance to talk about the manuscript with them, I was equal parts excited and nervous. It’s an absolute honor to know this acutely personal project is in the hands of a publisher with a dedication to craft, the horror community, and horror poetry.”
E.F. Schraeder, Biography –
Co-editor of the feminist horror charity anthology In Trouble (Omnium Gatherum 2023), E.F. Schraeder is the author of the Imadjinn Award finalist book Liar: Memoir of a Haunting (Omnium Gatherum, 2021) and other works. Schraeder’s poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies. A former gender studies professor, Schraeder holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. and an advanced degree in Library Science. The Price of a Small Hot Fire will be Dr. Schraeder’s first full-length collection of poetry.
Raw Dog Screaming Press –
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