Yellow Arrow Publishing is thrilled to introduce Yellow Arrow author Cassie Premo Steele and the cover of her soon-to-be-released chapbook, Swimming in Gilead. Reserve your copy today (wholesale copies are also available for a discount)—Swimming in Gilead will be released October 10, 2023.

yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/swimming-in-gilead-paperback

The incredible photograph used on the cover of Swimming in Gilead is by Sofia Tata (sofiatata.com). According to Cassie, “The combination of sea and land formation creates an image of a woman in silhouette and draws readers into an intimate dialogue with the poems.”

Swimming in Gilead takes us through the journey of a woman who, empowered to express herself through the feminist spirit of a writing group, explores what it means to be a woman and an ally in an era of uncertainty. In the summer of 2020 as the pandemic was raging, Cassie joined a group of six women—three from Canada and three from the United States, four white and two women of color, and five lesbians and one straight—to sit and write remotely once a week. They called themselves the Sisters of Gilead, strangers who came together during the loneliness and terror of the pandemic and in the process, helped each other survive. And they helped each other write.

Cassie is a lesbian ecofeminist poet and novelist who lives in South Carolina with her wife. Her collection of poetry is her call to action, an invitation to each of us to examine what is within, and how, with the support of feminist advocates as friends, we can make something beautiful out of our “torn parts.” The poems within Swimming in Gilead were written under the loving kindness and acceptance of the Sisters of Gilead. By opening into vulnerability, the poems show readers how to “swim in Gilead” with hope and perseverance even as our rights as women are being ripped away.

You can learn more about Cassie in a conversation between the author and Melissa Nunez, Yellow Arrow interviewer.

yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/cassie-premo-steele-swimming-in-gilead-interview

And check out several video clips of Cassie from several events on her website cassiepremosteele.com. Swimming in Gilead comes out in October 2023; make sure you preorder your copy today.