The new full-length collection of poetry by Francis Daulerio

Foreword by Maggie Smith

Cover art by Helen Ahpornsiri

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International orders can be placed through Amazon

hello! good morrow! welcome!

JOY is Francis Daulerio’s second full length collection of poetry and fifth release in the last seven years. Beginning with one pregnancy and ending with another, JOY is a meditation on the ways in which we struggle to stay alive, live among each others’ wreckage, and hold each other up. Through what Bon Iver’s Sean Carey describes as “Daulerio’s relentless hope and love,” JOY explores the challenges of seeking happiness while living with depression and anxiety, frequently settling in the mundanity of normal life, hunting for beauty in the plain and celebrating each bit of it. While the title may suggest a lighthearted read, the book is more about the seeking than the finding, centering around the birth of Daulerio’s first child while coping with the loss of friend and collaborator, Scott Hutchison. Though painful at times, it is a life-affirming book that encourages readers to push through the hardships we all face to find their own sense of meaning.

JOY is packed tight with fifty-four poems, a few which have been previously release through magazines, but most of which are brand new. It also has a foreword by author Maggie Smith (Good Bones, Keep Moving), and stunning cover art by UK artist Helen Ahpornsiri.

JOY is out now through Unsolicited Press and available wherever books are sold. 

Praise for JOY

“If there is a book you need to read because you’ve misplaced your joy over the last few years, this is it. In Joy, despite grief and struggles, Francis Daulerio celebrates what went right—the friend who climbs out through the downstairs window / of my house so not to disturb those gypsy wrens / who built their nest in the Valentine’s wreath on our front door, little white flowers / my wife calls starlight / bloom sideways, birds after rain—Yes! And many! Daulerio is my favorite kind of poet—an engaging storyteller who sees the world with a wink and a sideways smile, who keeps track of the moments we’ve forgotten. How lucky we are he wrote these extraordinary poems to remind us of what we’ve neglected to notice—the bees / sucking life into every clover flower / low enough for the mower blade to spare, tinny music of an ice cream truck, those fat gray clouds. Joy is full of heart and beauty, and is a book I didn’t want to end. And how could I? Daulerio’s poems compassionately bring us to a place where we ask ourselves—How do we become the people we’d love? How do we do better? This book is a gift to all and especially those of us who want to be delighted—this is truly a recommended addition to any bookcase.”
~ Kelli Russell Agodon
Dialogues with Rising Tides (Copper Canyon Press 2021)

“I often forget that poems can heal, poems can teach, and poems can breathe life into the way you see your world. In these pages, Francis Daulerio’s gratitude and celebration of life is palpable. The only thing to do after sitting with these poems is to go outside and sink your hands into the dirt and feel the earth’s quiet hum. Even while facing grief, fear, uncertainty, Daulerio’s relentless hope and love for his surroundings – his yard, his family, the power of nature – is a much needed message in today’s world.”
~ Sean Carey
(S. Carey / Bon Iver)

“A beautiful collection, bursting with life and detail, which takes you to places old and new and, like the best poetry, teaches you something you didn’t know you needed to know.”
~ Frank Turner