"Charles Kell’s poems resist and critique the prison-industrial complex in his debut collection Cage of Lit Glass. These poems illuminate the seemingly endless cycles of violence that perpetuate government-sanctioned surveillance and incarceration, particularly on working-class young men. The aftermath of that violence long reverberates; for the speakers among this collection, there is no escape, only the writing and telling of their stories, their intimate struggles and desire for vindication within trauma." —Colorado Review

"Charles Kell’s poems bring out the authentic in all of us. In Cage of Lit Glass he presents an unreal world, and yet these confines are not imaginary. The cages are also not stable: we learn that '[t]here is a phenomenon amongst / former prisoners where after release / they begin to reconstruct the very / dimensions of the cell they once / were housed in.' We learn that if you wish to read a poem, you may as well carve the lines on your wrist. By creating such poems, the reader is separated from their comfort zone, and this is a marvelous feat. After all, awareness is powerful poetic." —Kimiko Hahn

"In Cage of Lit Glass, Kell dives deep into what it truly means to feel trapped; in specific, he writes about the cages of prison, poverty, and trauma. Kell captures this emotion persuasively through his language, his imagery, and his acute attention to detail. He refuses to shy away from the subject matter to the degree that he might come across as brash and make the reader uncomfortable. This strategy is key, however, to the successful invocation of feeling trapped." —Miracle Monacle 

"This beautiful, unsettling book is a riveting must-read. Cage of Lit Glass restlessly illuminates the injustices of our corruptive class-based society, where trauma, poverty, and incarceration are pernicious, inextricable realities for far too many Americans. Kell fully participates in these vital daily struggles, as they are re-enacted with startling lyrical precision and hallucinatory surreality. These are not comfortable meditations considered from a distanced reserve. Instead, they’re full of outrage, eroticism, and unpredictable passions. I love this book: its exquisite calibrations, its insistent excavations. Charles Kell is a writer to watch." —Peter Covino

Charles Kell is the author of the poetry collections, Ishmael Mask and Cage of Lit Glass, both published by Autumn House Press. He is an Assistant Professor of English at Community College of Rhode Island’s Flanagan campus and associate editor of The Ocean State Review. Originally from Ohio, he now lives in Providence, RI.