Death And Exes

By Sarah Bridgins

Poetry

SEXTON PRIZE WINNER

Death and Exes explores the complexity of grief and the author's struggle to process loss through consumption; of food, drugs, alcohol, pop culture, sex, and fashion. Buying and imbibing things are often looked at as superficial distractions that keep us from dealing with difficult emotions. In Death and Exes, they are touchstones that help remind us of who we are during the times we feel most untethered and alone. These are poems of mourning, but they are also a celebration of the life affirming power of, among other things, burlesque, RuPaul, Dolly Parton, Hellraiser, and Columbo.

Sarah Bridgins is the recipient of the 2018 Sexton Prize from Eyewear Books. Her writing has appeared in Tin House, BuzzFeed, and Bustle among other publications. She lives in Brooklyn where she is the co-host of the Ditmas Lit reading series.

"Thrumming with frank grief, sharp humor, and coruscating desire, in the candidly erotic tradition of Sharon Olds, Sarah Bridgins's poems will gut you with a rhinestone cake knife and leave you for dead." - Rachel Lyon, author of Self-Portrait with Boy