PREORDER: Writing Poetry in the Dark

Raw Dog Screaming Press is thrilled to announce the pre-order availability and cover reveal for Writing Poetry in the Dark, edited by Bram Stoker Award Winning Poet and Editor Stephanie Wytovich. The cover, created by C.V. Hunt, follows the Writing in the Dark brand image.

Writing Poetry in the Dark is a craft book for speculative poets, by speculative poets, with a foreword by one of the genre’s most celebrated authors and creator of the Writing in the Dark brand, Tim Waggoner. This book meditates on craft, genre, style, and form as acclaimed SF/F/H poets come together to talk about their process, outlook, and approach to writing and incorporating the speculative into their poems.

Preorder now to receive a free Writing Poetry in the Dark sticker

“My hope is that this collection of essays will inspire, teach, and assist in the creation of speculative poetry while at the same time providing discourse from a diverse perspective on genre and craft,” Wytovich said.

Writing Poetry in the Dark brings together some of the most successful contemporary genre poets to discuss topics related to creating dark and fantastical poetry. While there are countless books available for the aspiring poet, there is a lack of resources specifically for and on speculative poetry, and with the market thriving, publishers who previously did not put out poetry are now adding it to their catalogs, requesting it for their anthologies, and seeking it for their magazines. Given these factors, it seemed like the perfect time to put together a guide for dark poets that addresses some of the unique challenges they face, such as creating monsters out of white space, writing the hybrid poem, or subverting folklore in the retelling of a classic tale.

Tim Waggoner created the Writing in the Dark brand beginning more than ten years ago with his blog, and adding two craft books published by RDSP, Writing in the Dark (2020) and Writing in the Dark: The Workbook (2022), as well as a series of virtual workshops for authors run by AllAccessCon. Even so, Waggoner still wasn’t sure he was qualified to present a book on dark poetry, but thought one was needed. That’s where Wytovich, as poetry editor for RDSP, came in.

“Wytovich was the perfect person to create this book,” said Waggoner, in the book’s introduction. “She’s an award-winning poet whose deliciously dark writing is as lyrical as it is powerful, and on top of that, she’s a wonderful and highly experienced teacher. She’s gathered a group of amazing poets to help you start your writing in the dark journey, or—if you’ve been writing for a while now—to give you some new tools and fresh possibilities for composing scary verse. I wish I’d had a book like this when I was starting out, but I have it now.”

Soon, it will be available to readers and writers as it’s set for a Fall 2022 release. However, preorders are open now for anyone to buy direct from RDSP.

Included in Writing Poetry in the Dark are recommendations on how to bring fear to the page, write from the wound, let violence loose, channel the weird, and tackle the dark side of daily life. There are also practical suggestions for exploring different poetic forms and topics ranging from building worlds, writing from different points of view, and exploring gender and sexuality on the page. This book will bring something different to every speculative writer who is interested in exploring poetry with a genre twist, and it is our hope that this book will help poetry itself continue to evolve, grow, and redefine itself in the market for many years to come.

Writing Poetry in the Dark Table of Contents –

• “To Sing Dark Songs” by Tim Waggoner
• “Dislocating the World” by F.J. Bergmann
• “Writing Speculative Poetry in Experimental Forms” by Linda D. Addison
• “The Art of Speculative Haiku” by Christina Sng
• “A Slippery World: Writing Poetry About Gender and Sexuality” by Lucy A. Snyder
• “Do Not Fear Poetic Collaboration” by Jim & Janice Leach
• “Here Are the Stairs to the Dark Cellar; Yes, You Must Go There: POV in Dark Poetry” by Timons Esaias
• “World-Building…in a Poem?” by Albert Wendland
• “Putting the Science in Science Fiction Poetry” by Jeannine Hall Gailey
• “Like Fright on Lice: Humor and Horror Poetry” by Michael Arnzen
• “Dark Poetry and War” by Alessandro Manzetti
• “This Is Not a Poem” by Cynthia Pelayo
• “Global Reflections Within Our Fear-Lit Ink” by Bryan Thao Worra
• “Of Poison Doors and Uncarved Stones” by Saba Syed Razvi, PhD
• “Into the Dark Woods:  Fairy Tale Poetry” by Carina Bissett
• “Dreams as Poetry: Translating Dreams into Verse” by Joanna C. Valente
• “I Got My Passport Stamped in Hades: Waking the Dead in the Poem” by Leza Cantoral
• “Historical Horror in Poetry” by Sara Tantlinger
• “Exploring the Monstrous Woman Archetype: Writing Satan’s Sweethearts” by Marge Simon
• “Freeing the Demon: Writing Violence Into the Poem” by Claire C. Holland
• “Dancing in the Design: Creating Blackout Poetry” by Jessica McHugh
• “Writing the Wound” by Donna Lynch

The essays inside feature wonderful tidbits of knowledge for all levels of poets or aspiring poets, or even, anyone interested in learning how people write poetry and why. It might even inspire a reluctant poetry reader to read some!

“Writing is alchemy. You take scary, magical things like emotions—all your pain and anger, your joy and lust, everything you’re afraid of—and you let them churn around inside the brilliant galaxy of your body and brain until they can’t be contained anymore. Then you make something. Maybe you make art. Maybe it’s violent art. Whatever it is, make the thing that sets you free.” – Claire C. Holland, in “Freeing the Demon: Writing Violence Into the Poem”

Stephanie M. Wytovich, Editor, Biography –

Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been showcased in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Year’s Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 8, as well as many others.

Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University, and a mentor with Crystal Lake Publishing. She is a recipient of the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant and has received the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for non-fiction writing.

Wytovich is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and most recently, The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press.

Follow Wytovich at http://stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter and Instagram @SWytovich​ and @thehauntedbookshelf. You can also find her essays, nonfiction, and class offerings on LitReactor.

Raw Dog Screaming Press –

Find out more about all the award-winning RDSP imprints, books, and authors at the website and don’t forget to sign-up for the newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/yhfCX.

For publicity purposes, including review copies or interviews, you can contact Erin Al-Mehairi at hookofabook@hotmail.com.