Murder (a violet)

A National Poetry Series Winner, this collection follows an enigmatic assassin seeking refuge from her sordid past.

Raymond McDaniel is the author of Special Powers and Abilities, Saltwater Empire, and Murder (a violet), a National Poetry Series selection.

“Delicately colored and carefully worked, this narrative sequence could be the missing fragment of ‘Christabel’—an embroidered ribbon that threads from the gothic to sometime this morning.”

—Susan Stewart

“More than a brilliant debut, Raymond McDaniel’s Murder (a violet) is an eerie, haunting redefinition of peace—what it means to feel peace within the self. Truly, a solemn achievement.”

—Claudia Rankine

“Raymond McDaniel’s language trains every particle of your attention on the surface and what stirs beneath.”

—C.D. Wright

“Mysterious and enticing.’”

—Anselm Hollo, National Poetry Series judge