The Uncertainty of Light
My debut poetry chapbook, The Uncertainty of Light, is now available from Blanket Sea Press.
Buy Now:
PDF, EPUB, and Audiobook via Blanket Sea Press.
Paperback and Kindle via Amazon.
And in stores at King’s Books and The Nearsighted Narwhal in Tacoma, WA.
Wholesale prices are available for bookstores and libraries. Financial assistance is also available. Please contact blanketsealit@gmail.com.
About the book:
The Uncertainty of Light explores how it feels to inhabit a body that is misunderstood. Through lenses of the natural world, astronomy, science fiction, and pop culture, this evocative collection captures snapshots of a life with chronic illness while tapping into universal experiences of searching for meaning, seeking acceptance, and falling in love. Readers will be taken on a journey across oceans and forests, night skies and city streets, dreams and nightmares. Examining urgent matters of life and death, these poems pause to reflect on the deceptively small moments we tend to take for granted.
Select published poems from the manuscript:
Advance Praise:
“The Uncertainty of Light is a seamless blend of rawness and craft. Alana Saltz has written a majestic battle cry; a desperately needed glimpse into the world of chronic illness. One cannot help but be humbled to venture between these pages and walk alongside her on her fight for answers and understanding.” —Morgan Nikola-Wren, author of Magic with Skin On
“The poems in Alana Saltz’s The Uncertainty of Light blister, crease, crackle, sputter, and spin with voltaic force. There’s a splendid longing in the language here, kinetic in its resistance against futility. A finely-crafted collection full of bright, mesmeric meteors.” —Matthew Burnside, author of Postludes
“‘You wouldn’t want to miss this,’ Saltz says of her body, the enclosure where she experiences an array of sensations, both destructive and revelatory. Saltz invites you to peel her like an egg, to crack the shell and explore with her the psychic toll of living with chronic illness and the power, as well as the limitations, of hope, love, and imagination. At times optimistic, at times despairing, these poems are honest, lyrical, and sly.” —Tresha Faye Haefner, author of Take This Longing and founder of The Poetry Salon
“In her magnificent debut, Saltz dives into the abyss of longing, pensive reflection, and hurt, taking us right into the wreck with her. Saltz masterfully keeps us rooted in the body while taking us from the ocean floor through the forest and up to the stars, all the while asking, wishing, and pleading to be seen. In this well-rounded and ethereal voyage, Saltz brings us into her pain and perseverance, letting us grasp for the answers and beg to be found right along with her.” —Elisabeth Horan, author of Self-Portrait and editor-in-chief of Animal Heart Press
“The Uncertainly of Light guides you through a journey of pain, sorrow, and ambiguity but also one of beauty, compassion, and marvels. It unravels what being and feeling misplaced is like, never shying away from the truth. It shows you how to slow down and enjoy ‘floating and drifting in this blue world’ regardless of the uncertainties of light and proudly makes a courageous statement: ‘Nothing works./ But I’m here.’” —Nadia Gerassimenko, author of at the water’s edge and editor-in-chief of Moonchild Magazine
About the Author:
Alana Saltz is a writer, freelance editor, and disability rights activist. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Blanket Sea Magazine. Her essays have been published in The Washington Post, The LA Times, HuffPost, and Bustle. Her poetry has appeared in Occulum, Moonchild Magazine, Yes Poetry, Rust+Moth, Five:2:One, and more. Alana has lived with chronic illness since childhood. She grew up in small-town Maryland, spent her young adult years in Los Angeles, and currently resides in Tacoma, Washington. She loves forests, stuffed animals, and a damn fine cup of tea.
You can visit her website at alanasaltz.com and follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
For press, interview, and review inquiries, please email blanketsealit@gmail.com.