Burn This House

In her debut poetry collection, Kelly Davio invites the reader into a world where sin is virtue and virtue is vice, where the ominous lingers just beneath the surface, and the everyday is imbued with the fantastic. In these intelligent, compassionate, and harrowing poems, Davio gives a modern voice to metaphysical tradition. The poems in this collection dismantle the specter and judgment of a life shaded by Judeo-Christian religious consciousness. Grounded in Davio’s radical religious childhood and subsequent break with the church, her writing examines the world from the viewpoint of the spiritual dissenter, questioning the mores and motivations of religion, family, and self. In sections that explore concepts of revelation, sin, and virtue, these poems tilt the world at uncharacteristic angles, revealing the ragged edges at the margins of belief. At times solemn, at times exuberant, Burn This House is an intense volume, its darkness lit by the flames of wit, intellect, and curiosity.


Praise for Burn This House:


“Here is a clear, fresh voice enhanced by first-rate craftsmanship. Kelly Davio gives us poems full of original surprises.”—David Wagoner


“Kelly Davio’s Burn This House is a vivid, nuanced, beautifully organized, and wit-enriched debut. It is a dark book, but the darkness is illuminated throughout with the cool flames of ironic humor, and the brightest light arrives in the concluding sequence’s conflagration, the flaring out of the poetic house. But this collection is just the beginning–this compassionate and harrowing book promises more brilliance to come. Tongues of flame, anyone?”—Carolyne Wright, author of A Change of Maps and Mania Klepto: The Book of Eulene


Kelly Davio ( Author Website )

Publication Date: March 1, 2013

Genre/Imprint: Poetry, Red Hen Press

$16.95 Tradepaper

Shop: Red Hen, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble

ISBN: 978-1-59709-236-4

Download the Press Kit Here

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Reviews

Poetry Northwest loves Burn This House!

Recently, Poetry Northwest published a review of Kelly Davio's Burn This House, and they had great things to say about Kelly's use of sound and rhythm. "Clearly Davio is a […]

Burn This House praised in Contrary Magazine

Lee Gulyas from Contrary Magazine applauds Kelly Davio's use of "the lens and language of religion to question existence, family, and herself" in the poems of Burn This House.- "Don't […]

Donna Miscolta applauds Burn This House

Donna Miscolta calls Kelly Davio's Burn This House "blisteringly good poetry".- "In Burn this House (Red Hen Press), Kelly Davio explores relationships—how they falter or erode, how time distorts the […]

Shelf Awareness features Burn This House

Thuy Dinh from Shelf Awareness praises Burn This House by Kelly Davio.- "Kelly Davio's debut poetry collection, Burn This House, smolders with doubt and misdirection. Cosmic yet controlled, her poetry […]

The Rumpus reviews Burn This House

Michelle Salcido from The Rumpus praises Kelly Davio's Burn This House.- "Davio explores the erosion of faith, time, memory, and love with clear speakers who are unafraid to expose doubts […]

The Scrapper Poet reviews Burn This House

Karen J. Weyant from The Scrapper Poet chooses Kelly Davio's Burn This House as her "March Poetry Pick".- "Indeed, if anything, these poems are questions — questions about both our […]