Poetry

Antecedent is a book about what came before; the stories, ancestors, traumas, loves and mysterious threads of power that we find when we look back' to discover what shapes us. The poetry shares tales of origin stories, "everyself" figures, and how sorrow and growth entwine in the human condition. Among the love and cruelty of existence, the poems uncover fish guts, little yellow violets, a red fox in an apple orchard, and the lipstick section of London Drugs. Image and story layer and weave to show the reader, with breathless wisdom, “this whole thing is about / slices of light.”

This is Severson-Baker's second full-length book of poetry and is part of Frontenac House's Fall Quartet, 2023 - with other titles by D.S. Stymeist, Keith Garebian and Leilei Chen. Launch date: Oct. 6, 2023!