On the Subject of Blackberries

“This is a collection that is wandering the halls in the night with a candle threatening to go out. Wytovich taps into the brutal and magical experience of motherhood with poems that are lush and barbed, connecting the maternal with the feral in ways that are unexpected and unforgettable.” —Patricia Grisafi, PhD, author of Breaking Down Plath and Animal

“What witchcraft is this? These poems are somehow delicate as lace yet razor sharp. Lovely yet venomous. Visceral and emotional, eerie and honest. This collection is essential and in perfect conversation with Shirley Jackson’s Blackwood Sisters.” —Rachel Harrison, national bestselling author of Cackle and Black Sheep

"Stephanie Wytovich’s On the Subject of Blackberries is an uncomfortable collection. Petal-pressed and pulsing with politeness, her poetry is unflinching in its honesty, each poem a bewitchingly beautiful slurp at the horror of motherhood. A devastating work." —Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, co-author of Tortured Willows

"On the Subject of Blackberries is a birth announcement, a lullaby, a eulogy. It is the beautiful, yet painful tangled parts of transformation. Wytovich conjures a sympathetic magic spell, and stands firm as one of the masters of speculative poetry." —Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Crime Scene

“The poems in this collection are as decadent and surprising as blackberries themselves: often succulent and sometimes tart, always potent enough to leave a stain. Stephanie Wytovich is synonymous with dark poetry.” –Lindy Ryan, Bram Stoker Award-nominated editor of Into the Forest and author of Bless Your Heart

"With sugar, shadow, and verses sharp as thorns, On the Subject of Blackberries will become a sacred text to everyone whose teen witch phase grew into an unapologetic lifestyle. Inspired by We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Wytovich channels Merricat with all her complex shapes & secrets, creating a collection that haunts you long after you set it down. Every poem left me breathless, and more deeply bewitched."—Jessica McHugh, 2x Bram Stoker Award® Nominated author, The Quiet Ways I Destroy You

“Wytovich uses symbols like poisoned fruit and burned houses to interpret her battle with postpartum depression, resurfaced trauma, and maternal terror over her newborn. This ten-chapter poem is full of potent imagery that I can only describe as horrible/beautiful. We get a terrifying glimpse of the violent and despairing movie that flickers behind the eyes of someone trying to hold onto or find a reason to continue. Devastatingly honest and terrifyingly pure, the prose exposes us to firestorms of rage, guilt, and shame that hide behind silent suffering. We feel the authentic struggle not to succumb to the shadow. Wytovich finds beauty in the wound as much as in the freshly healed scar, and it is that acceptance of the darkness which adjusts our focus and changes our perspective on emotional and physical trauma. Her brutal honesty makes this work engaging, provocative, and healing. That is some profound magic to put on the page.”—Scott Bradley, Podcaster, Owner Hellbent for Horror

"Dark, lovely, and brutal, these poems are a tribute to Shirley Jackson and a hymn for the inner Blackwood sister who resides in all of us. Fans of gothic horror will devour Wytovich’s stunning collection in one sitting."—Jessica Drake-Thomas, author of Burials and Bad Omens

“Wytovich discloses the festering secrets of her darkest thoughts with the inevitable doom of Emily Dickinson and the dread-infused paranoia of Poe’s ‘Tell-Tale Heart.’ Recommended for lovers of the exquisitely macabre.”—Lee Allen Howard, author of The Covenant Sacrifice

“A haunting collection that blends urgency alongside the myth of pastoral, the supernatural, and the body. Stephanie Wytovich’s collection is a cacophony of seeking out darkness in light and light in darkness. Each line comes together in a dazzling cemetery of selves—past and present—seeking a rebirth into something truly extraordinary. If Wytovich’s words are a match, then this book is the flame.” —Stephanie Valente, author of Internet Girlfriend