Break in the Field

"A deeply felt collection of candid verse." KIRKUS "Ellis Elliott's compelling Break in the Field creates associations between humanity, nature, and time that deserve not only individual inspection and appreciation, but spirited discussions about contemporary poetry's ability to attract and react to life's events with bigger-picture reflections about growth, freedom, and life lessons." MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW "This gripping, heart wrenching exploration of her inner most thoughts and feelings while caring for her extreme needs stepson, "[whose] brain vessels shattered at birth into a million stars," are so raw, so deeply forthright, from a place of such compassion, tenderness, and introspection that I found myself tearful many times." KARI GUNTER-SEYMOUR Ohio Poet Laureate and author of ALONE IN THE HOUSE OF MY HEART BREAK IN THE FIELD by Ellis Elliott is a captivating and heartfelt poetry collection. Deeply personal, Ellis' collection looks at the enlightening experience of parenting a profoundly disabled stepson, while simultaneously embracing the other shifts in mid-life. A 2023 National Book Award nominee title, this outstanding collection is a work you'll want to revisit time and again. Ellis Elliott is a perennial student of nature, inner realms, and the wisdom of the body. She writes to to bear witness and disentangle the world as she perceives it. She also writes in order to indulge her overactive imagination, or to give voice to her variety of alter egos, which might include talking forest creatures or an amateur sleuth with paranormal powers. Ellis Elliott is a writer, ballet teacher, and facilitator of online writing groups called Bewilderness Writing. She has a blended family of six grown sons and lives with her husband and feisty dog, Mabel, in Juno Beach, FL. She has an MFA from Queens University, is a contributing writer for the Southern Review of Books, and an editor/workshop teacher for The Dewdrop contemplative journal.