The Maverick Room Format: Paperback

With its defiance for any one tradition or voice, Thomas Sayers Ellis's debut becomes a powerful argument against monotony

A dream. A democracy. A savage liberty.
And yet another anthem and yet another heaven
and yet another party wants you.
Wants you wants you wants you.
―from "Groovallegiance"

In one poem, Thomas Sayers Ellis prognosticates, "Pretty soon, the Age of the Talk Show / Will slip on a peel left in the avant- gutter." The result is The Maverick Room, the testing ground of determination and serendipity, where call-and-response becomes Steinian echo becomes Post-Soul percussive pleasure becomes a bootlegged recording hustled out of a D.C. go-go club.

Thomas Sayers Ellis was born and raised in Washington, D.C. His work has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and in Take Three: 1. He currently teaches at Case Western Reserve University and lives in Cleveland, Ohio.