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Thirteen Nocturnes - Book Tour and Giveaway

1/4/2019

60 Comments

 
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Thirteen Nocturnes
by Oliver Sheppard
Genre: Gothic, Dark Poetry

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Combining lush Gothic lyricism with postmodern experimentation, Oliver Sheppard's second collection of verse, Thirteen Nocturnes, presents a nightmare vision of a world in the grip of apocalypse and shadow--a world where "a nighttime of years never-ending" becomes "a darkness severe and unbending," and where life is relentlessly "gathered up against the towering shadow of decay." Taking cues from the dark Romanticism of Poe, the decadent Symbolism of Baudelaire, and the apocalyptic tradition of William Blake--as well as the existential doominess of 20th century cosmic horror--Oliver Sheppard's Thirteen Nocturnes presents a verse vision of collapse, announcing a cold poetics of disintegration in the new dark age of the Anthropocene. 

"Reading Sheppard's poetry is a little like listening to a conversation between Nietzsche and William Blake during a showing of Peckinpah's Cross of Iron. Using a wide range of forms and cultural references, Sheppard illustrates the human condition in ways that take as much account of its absence as its presence... Given the chance, Sheppard will lead you down dark and unfamiliar paths, to moments of weird beauty." --from the foreword by John Foster



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NOCTURNE  No. 13

               And so of larger - Darknesses -
               Those Evenings of the Brain
                                     
--DICKINSON

Darkness comes—the day does depart--
But darker still, the human heart.

Dark are night’s spaces,
Which we’ve peopled aptly:
Vampires, werewolves, witches, and ghouls.
In lightless places
The credulous raptly
Listen to fairy tales, trembling as fools.

So darkness deludes us; we’ve all played a part.
But darkest of all is the human heart.

Shadows of nation-state, shadows of blood--
Projections of fancy and causes of war.
Blaming the devil and his evil brood
Exonerates him who’s the war-machine’s whore.

Darkness finds power when daytime departs,
But darker environs are in human hearts.

Evil may be afoot on the earth--
And who is not guilty? Who stands apart?
Satan is blamed, for what it is worth;
Yet darkest of devils is the human heart.

Dark and cruel, the devil’s art--
Darker still, the human heart.

 â€‹
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Oliver Sheppard was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and lives in Texas. Critical reviews of his poetry collections have been kind: "Like listening to a conversation between Nietzsche and William Blake while watching Peckinpah's 'Cross of Iron'," reviews of his first book, Destruction: Text I, claimed. Garnering accolades from academia and punk zines alike, Sheppard's work takes cues from the cosmic fatalism of Lovecraft and Thomas Ligotti, and combines that with the lush, Gothic lyricism of the Dark Romanticist tradition.

"Sheppard's THIRTEEN NOCTURNES is gothic in every sense of the word; from the writing style, the themes, to Oliver's own influences. Without a doubt, this bountiful collection raises the bar for contemporary gothic poetry. It's rare in this day and age to find poetry written in a manner as sophisticated and profound as this. But here, Sheppard combines a down-to-earth modernism with older styles that make for a fanciful and unique experience for the reader."--Sar Blackthorn, CVLT Nation



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​BEHIND THE SCENES OF THIRTEEN NOCTURNES
by Oliver Sheppard

Thirteen Nocturnes was completed in the Summer of 2018 after several months of daily writing, weeks and months during which I wrote the book every day as if I were writing a novel. (Thirteen Nocturnes is, of course, not a novel; it is a collection of poetry.) In the Preface to Thirteen Nocturnes I write that the book is not a random anthology of poetry, but that it is, in fact "a narrative work," which it is. Of a sort.


The book is comprised of five sections and spread across these five sections are 85 poems. (86 if you count the "Dedication" at the beginning as a poem.) The book's second section is called "Thirteen Nocturnes" and this is where the original thirteen poems reside. I had originally wanted to write a slender chapbook or even a saddle-stapled 'zine that would contain thirteen short poems that were reflections upon, or that were somehow inspired by, the night. This chapbook would be something I could pass out at punk, deathrock, and postpunk shows, perhaps with a mix CD. Perhaps it would be pocket-sized.

As I wrote the individual thirteen nocturnes other ideas came to me quickly, the more so the more I wrote. I began writing other poems all the while going back and editing the original thirteen poetic compositions. I decided to add a second section onto Thirteen Nocturnes, called "Death and Death's Mirror," which contained and does contain some traditional horror poetry ("The House," "The Vampiress," and others), some poems on silent film subjects that interest me (Theda Bara and Alla Nazimova, specifically), and other subject matter. A third section began to take shape, and I called it "The Void Cantos." This section dwells on themes of cosmic fatalism, warfare, material dissolution, nothingness, and it was also originally intended as its own volume. Another section, perhaps the most conventionally narrative of the bunch, I called "The Dark Corridor to Heaven," and placed it at the end. And finally there is the Prologue, the section at the very beginning that contains two poems that I did not feel fit anywhere else. I eliminated about 20 poems from the finished book.

I have to confess that a mental template was Charles Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil. Baudelaire--along with Edgar Allan Poe, William Blake, Giacomo Leopardi, Gottfried Benn, and others--is an ineluctable influence. In his one and only book-length collection of poems, Baudelaire titled one section "Flowers of Evil," while other sections he gave titles like "Spleen and Ideal," "Wine," "Death," and so on. The collection as a whole, however, he titled Flowers of Evil, which is also the title of one of the sections within. I decided to follow this structural pattern with Thirteen Nocturnes. I hope I have not done the master a disservice, but have in fact performed a kind of flattery!

"There is much that is marvelous that is wicked." This is a line I wrote in the Dedication near the front of the book, and it underscores an idea that runs throughout Thirteen Nocturnes: Namely, that evil, melancholy, loss, grief, collapse, decay, and ruin can produce their own forms of beauty, beautiful things worthy of their own poetic expression. This is not a radical or even a new idea at this point in history--at least, not all by itself. But this is only one thematic strand that runs through the book. Besides influences from literature, influences from my own life have informed the writing in Thirteen Nocturnes--for example, my own struggles with chronic depression, or scenes or facts from my own past, as in "Winter Lament," where I mention growing up poor. Additionally, although I wanted the literary style at times to serve as a "callback" to 19th century Romanticist and Gothic literature, I also wanted to put into play some of the stylistic quirks of postmodern literature. For example, some of the footnoting I engage in, especially in "An Infinite Radius," was chiefly inspired by the Spanish postmodern novel Larva by Julian Rios. And "In the Shadow of Her Long Hair Flowing" was inspired by the early 20th century poetry of Surrealism and my own youthful encounter with the poetry of Andre Breton.

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Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, teasers and a giveaway!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway
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60 Comments
James Robert
1/4/2019 03:50:50 am

I appreciate you taking the time to give us a great book description and giveaway as well. Thank you so much!

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Bea LaRocca
1/4/2019 06:13:52 am

Thanks so much for the guest post, I enjoyed reading your words. These teasers and the excerpt make me want to read this dark poetry collection.

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Shirley Ann Speakman
1/4/2019 06:21:51 am

Congratulations on your tour Oliver the book cover is really suits the contents of poems and wow fabulous pictures too.

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Janet W.
1/4/2019 09:21:09 am

I really like this unique cover!! I can't wait to read this!

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Kelly D
1/4/2019 10:40:16 am

I like the cover. There is a lot of nice imagery that makes me want to know more about the book.

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Rita Wray
1/4/2019 11:31:13 am

Sounds like a good book.

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lynn clayton
1/4/2019 12:00:03 pm

love the cover so intriguing

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Calvin
1/4/2019 12:54:51 pm

I misread at first and read it as 13 tortures.. yikers

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Victoria
1/4/2019 01:05:30 pm

This sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing and for the great giveaway :)

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wendy hutton
1/4/2019 04:29:48 pm

love the cover, looks great in black and white coloring

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Debbie Plesha
1/4/2019 04:58:34 pm

This book sounds like a fantastic read. Cool cover.

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Sherry
1/4/2019 05:05:18 pm

I like the cover and think the book sounds good.

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Mary Cloud
1/4/2019 07:02:44 pm

No questions - the cover is interesting

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Serge B
1/4/2019 09:20:49 pm

The cover was very unique

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Rhonda Miotke
1/4/2019 09:32:41 pm

The cover makes me want to read the book. Thanks for the giveaway.

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Dale Wilken
1/4/2019 09:39:48 pm

Sounds really great.

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Marisela Zuniga
1/4/2019 10:09:53 pm

great cover, this sounds great

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Kelly Nicholson
1/5/2019 09:57:40 am

What do you think of the book or the cover?

looks like witchcraft..uh oh!

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Amy F
1/5/2019 10:37:37 am

Sounds like a very enticing read!

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Carolle Hall
1/5/2019 11:06:20 am

The book cover is really nice

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Amy Green
1/5/2019 12:58:04 pm

My question for the author is: If you could cast any actor or actress in a movie based on one of your works, who would you want it be?

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Celeste Herrin
1/5/2019 03:51:24 pm

I'm blown away by this book! Great job! The cover is enticing as well.

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Mood Reader
1/5/2019 08:58:09 pm

Sounds interesting.

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Stephanie Phelps
1/5/2019 10:33:52 pm

The cover for sure draws me in and makes me want to read more! Congrats on the tour that is awesome!

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Angela Saver
1/6/2019 12:52:06 am

This looks like a good read and I enjoyed learning of this author!

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Jennifer Stapp
1/6/2019 06:06:50 am

I've never liked poetry all that much until it starts to get dark, and that's exactly what I see here. Love the cover imagery and can't wait to read.

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Marcy Meyer
1/6/2019 11:20:36 am

This sounds like an interesting book. I really enjoyed the teasers. The cover of the book is very pretty and haunting.

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Ed L link
1/6/2019 11:53:26 am

Great,inticing book cover.

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Betsy Barnes
1/6/2019 12:08:06 pm

This book cover is very interesting and unique, I like it!

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heather
1/6/2019 07:16:25 pm

I love the cover of this book and I so want to read it sounds really good.

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Barbara Montag
1/7/2019 10:21:19 am

Gothic, Dark Poetry - this is a new genre for me.
Fantastic cover makes me want to read this book.
thank you

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Sarah Hayes
1/7/2019 11:58:57 am

It looks great! I know it will be a great read

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Ellie Wright
1/7/2019 03:30:15 pm

This sounds like a great book. I'm looking forward to reading it.

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jan
1/8/2019 11:56:18 am

Thirteen Nocturnes has a brilliant cover!

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Sheila Fiske
1/8/2019 09:48:42 pm

I really like the cover. Looking forward to reading the dark poetry.

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Gwendolyn Jordan
1/9/2019 09:53:00 am

I like the cover

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Elaine G
1/9/2019 03:39:19 pm

Enjoyed reading the post. Thanks for sharing the excerpt.

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Sarah L
1/10/2019 12:23:20 am

Looks like an interesting book.
Thanks for the contest. 

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Dolores Q.
1/13/2019 05:27:00 pm

This book looks especially fantastic.

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Anna Nguyen
1/13/2019 08:46:39 pm

looks very interesting

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Lavender
1/14/2019 10:34:14 am

Dark vs. Light: demons vs. the innocents
I really like the cover. Was this inspired from a painting? If so, who is the original artist?

My favourite author growing up was Anne Rice so gothic is right up my alley!

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Karen Propes
1/16/2019 08:24:56 pm

I love the book cover, it's like a movement of the unknown. The poetry is defining as stated in the words.

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Corey Hutton
1/17/2019 10:36:30 pm

I like the cover, it looks like something i'd hang on my wall.

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June S.
1/18/2019 03:25:41 pm

I really like the covers art work.

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Jessie Redding
1/20/2019 08:11:11 pm

I think this cover's pretty cool, love the image!

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peggy greco
1/20/2019 08:23:17 pm

I think the cover and story look fascinating and worth reading for fun and intrigue.

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MarĂ­a Theresa Santos
1/22/2019 08:47:01 pm

The cover is beautiful

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Tyler Ginter
1/22/2019 09:59:07 pm

It's very haunting. I like it!

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Allison Swain
1/25/2019 04:14:15 pm

The cover is so stunning!It gives off a haunting feel. I would love to read this.
Thank you for the giveaway :)

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Ann Fantom
1/27/2019 08:19:29 am

I love the cover. Very nice!

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Danielle Merkle
1/29/2019 04:49:35 pm

Sounds like an interesting read!

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Daniel M
1/31/2019 08:08:04 pm

like the cover

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Erika Messer
2/2/2019 02:56:55 am

I love the cover, I actually love everything about this book - the images and the gothicism, the quotes from amazing authors and all. It's a beautifully written book reminiscent of Poe :)

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Heather D
2/2/2019 02:36:46 pm

I very much like the cover. The story sounds interesting too.

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Carole D
2/2/2019 11:57:27 pm

I love the unique cover. The book sounds very interesting!

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vivien
2/3/2019 05:55:01 pm

what a beautiful and haunting cover

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Lisa
2/3/2019 06:35:38 pm

I think the cover is really pretty.

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Shirley Emitt
2/4/2019 02:03:16 am

The book sounds great, I do like the cover.

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Tiffany S
2/4/2019 06:29:30 pm

I like the cover, I think the book looks really interesting.

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Jerry Marquardt
2/4/2019 11:45:29 pm

I would like to give thanks for all your really great writings, including Thirteen Nocturnes, and wishing the best in keeping up the good work in the future.

Reply



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