The Cartographer's Ink

In Okla Elliott's first full-length poetry collection, he seamlessly integrates history, philosophy, science, and personal narrative to form a literary geography that is at once erudite and accessible. Ranging from rural Kentucky to post-Soviet Russia to ancient Egypt, these poems invite the reader on a unique aesthetic and intellectual journey.

Okla Elliott is an assistant professor at Misericordia University. He holds a PhD in comparative literature from University of Illinois, an MFA in creative writing from Ohio State University, and a legal studies certificate from Purdue University. His work has appeared in Cincinnati Review, Harvard Review, Indiana Review, The Literary Review,The Los Angeles Review, New Ohio Review, Prairie Schooner, A Public Space, Subtropics, and elsewhere, as well as being included as a "notable essay" in Best American Essays 2015. His books include From the Crooked Timber (short fiction), The Cartographer's Ink (poetry), The Doors You Mark Are Your Own (a coauthored novel), Blackbirds in September: Selected Shorter Poems of Jürgen Becker (translation), and Pope Francis: The Essential Guide (nonfiction).