"These permutations of the human capacity for terror, especially regarding mental illness, are purely compelling. The poems build one on the other, compounding what is an always unsettling movement forward. This is hard, plain content, and as readers, we are spared little. If this sounds uninviting, that is not so—these poems find a place to stand through it all, and this redemptive footing is the key to survival in so many circumstances. These poems find courage where there is none to be found, and are, in that sense, full of pure human spirit." —Alberto Ríos, author of A Small Story About the Sky

"It’s a rare poet who can make such powerful poetry from pain, such lyrical beauty out of unthinkable suffering as Walsh has done in his latest collection, Creep Love. Clearly, a master of the confessional poem, Walsh is an engaging poet whose story of a rural past, an abusive stepfather, a Midwestern farm life is at once haunting, terrifying, and beautifully told." —Nin Andrews, author of Miss August

"This book is a sacrament: the broken body and the blood. This dark gospel of betrayal hits hard, leaving marks, sparing no one." —Timothy Liu, author of Don’t Go Back to Sleep

Michael Walsh received his BA in English from Knox College and his MFA in Creative and Professional Writing from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities. His poetry books include Creep Love (Autumn House Press, Lambda Literary Award Finalist) and The Dirt Riddles (University of Arkansas Press), and he is the editor of Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology (Autumn House Press, Lambda Literary Award Finalist). After residing in Minneapolis for more than two decades, Michael now lives in a valley among coulees and springs in the Driftless region of southwest Wisconsin, where his eco-queer and literary teachings are taking shape.