Julia Paul

Staring Down the Tracks Julia Paul

Staring Down the Tracks is a collection of poems that gives voice to those affected by addiction, a population that, despite their numbers and diverse demographics, is often harshly judged and silenced by shame. The mother and son of these poems are your neighbors, friends, relatives, and co-workers who need to have a dialog with you.



"Images precise and severe are accompanied by a fragile, defiantly beautiful music as the poet describes the son whom she will lose, over and over again." Erica Funkhouser, author of Post & Rail, winner of the Idaho Prize for Poetry

"...a courageous and generous collection, an essential contribution to literature about addiction that will change you." Daniel Donaghy, author, Somerset: Start with the Trouble, winner of the Paterson Prize for Literary Excellence

"If Sylvia Plath were the mother of an addict, she would write poems like [these]." Miriam Greenspan, psychotherapist and author, Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair