“In this intense and compelling collection, Doug Ramspeck reveals how the heart persists in loving even those who are unlovable.”
—Vivian Shipley, Connecticut State University Distinguished Professor and author of An Archaeology of Days
“In his powerful new book of poems, Black Flowers, Doug Ramspeck forges a ghostic language of the natural order... A deeply beautiful book.”
—Bruce Bond, author of Blackout Starlight: New and Selected Poems, 1997-2015
“In this intense and compelling collection, Doug Ramspeck reveals how the heart persists in loving even those who are unlovable.”
—Vivian Shipley, Connecticut State University Distinguished Professor and author of An Archaeology of Days
About Doug
Doug Ramspeck is the author of seven collections of poetry, one collection of short stories, and a novella. Recent books include Under Black Leaves (Etchings Press), Black Flowers (LSU Press), and The Owl That Carries Us Away, winner of the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction. His poems and stories have appeared in literary journals that include Kenyon Review, Slate, The Georgia Review, The Southern Review, and Missouri Review. He is a three-time recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. His short story, "Balloon," was listed as a Distinguished Story of 2018 by The Best American Short Stories.
Latest Blog Post
The theory goes like this: writing is hard enough without trying to write in more than one genre.
In other words, if you want to excel at any kind of writing, you are better off focusing your efforts on one type. The skills required to be a poet, after all, are not the same as those required to be a short-story writer or a novelist. Flitting from genre to genre probably ensures that you never get very good at any of them.
These are not unreasonable arguments.
Still, I disagree with them.
News & Events
Under Black Leaves (2020), a novella, has been published by Etchings Press (University of Indianapolis).
Distant Fires (2020), a collection of poetry, short fiction, and drama has been published by Grayson Books.
Grateful to learn that my short story, “Balloon,” which appeared in The South Carolina Review (vol. 51.1), was listed as a Distinguished Story of 2018 in The Best American Short Stories 2019, edited by Anthony Doerr and Heidi Pitlor.
Also by Doug Ramspeck
