To See the Queen
Allison Seay

Winner of the 2012 Lexi Rudnistky First Book Prize in Poetry

In her debut collection, Allison Seay portrays a world fraught with the powers of its own harrowing imagination—a world intermittently real and imaginary, with unforgettable characters conjured subliminally as a young woman’s saviors from a deathly sadness. Achingly personal, To See the Queen describes one woman’s psychological wilderness, then blesses us with the story of its population, regrowth, and ultimate transcendence.

“To See the Queen is a masterful book.... These are frightening, moving, deeply human poems—poems such as these are sorely needed.”
—J. G. McClue, Colorado Review

“To See the Queen is a striking addition to contemporary poetry. Seay strikes the perfect balance between the sacrament of the mundane and the heart of the human conflict. She sings out to that need to imagine and mourn, that ache to find comfort and visualize hope.”
—Ann Persons, Shenandoah

“Fabular and finely-drawn, ethereal and exacting, this is as satisfying as poetry gets.”
—Seth Abramson, Huffington Post

“To See the Queen, Allison Seay’s haunting, spectacular debut, is a voice in communion—magically intimate and distant”
—Claudia Emerson

Allison Seay has published poems in Harvard Review, Mississippi Review, Poetry, and other journals, and is the recipient of fellowships from the Ruth Lilly Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Paperback / $15.95 (Can $17.00) / ISBN 978-0-89255-423-2 / Poetry

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