The Art Of Coming Undone

"lushly lyrical, erotic, witty and redolent with love both lost and abiding. In these bittersweet poems, vividly illustrated with the gynocentric art of Erna Kuik, Collins seems to say that home may be where we arrive when we lose what we thought of as ourselves, that only when we come undone may we find, in the loss, our creation."  —

-- Kathy Fagan, author of Sycamore
"an utterly compelling book. In these rich, sharp poems, paired with Erna Kuik’s evocative images, Christie Collins crafts a clear-eyed portrait of an ending, a fiercely bright new beginning, and the through-the-fire reckoning both require. This collection, too, is a kind of fire—these poems spark and flare and hiss and glow. They burn. And they light the way." – -- Catherine Pierce, author of Danger Days

"Christie Collins's dazzling first full-length collection of poems will play you like an Aeolian harp, as her story of loving and losing touches your own near misses. Whether lamenting the craftwork of bees, or learning about perennial flowers from nuns, the body and mind are engaged in natural curiosity, whilst longing for an imagined future in the swirl of a mystic's tea leaves. The ekphrastic relationship between the poems and Erna Kuik's artwork conveys women contemplating relationships, which complements the way this book invites you into its intimacies and idiosyncrasies." –

-- Claire Williamson, author of Visiting the Mino