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ABOUT How to Bury a Boy at Sea

“To read this collection is to discover a beautiful voice, a generous and courageous voice that speaks to childhood sexual trauma, its aftermath, and the transcendent power of love to heal… I celebrate Phil Goldstein and thank him for this gift.” —José Antonio Rodríguez, author of This American Autopsy

In How to Bury a Boy at Sea, poet Phil Goldstein is the architect of his own unburdening, offering a rare and unflinching glimpse into the effects of child sexual abuse from the male perspective. Equal parts fury and calm, Goldstein’s poems contemplate family, faith, masculinity, and survival, delivering a powerful account of recovery through verse, from silence and shame to healing and rediscovered intimacy and agency.

PRAISE FOR How to Bury a Boy at Sea

“In How to Bury a Boy at Sea, Phil Goldstein speaks against stigma to tell the story of a ‘haunted, hunted boy.’ Despite ‘chok[ing] back black tar,’ the speaker refuses to remain silent. These stunning poems remind us of the power of poetry to name even the most unspeakable traumas—the ‘invisible but grievous’ wounds of child sexual abuse. Goldstein fractures time and space as we witness the unraveling of the tenuous boundaries of masculinity, family, the body, and the self. This is a brave, lyrical debut collection.” —Emily Mohn-Slate, author of The Falls

“In his searing and urgent debut How to Bury a Boy at Sea, Phil Goldstein charts trauma’s tendrils through time, memory, and place. In a collection that names the sexual abuse suffered at the hands of a trusted family member, it is apt that water is such a profound and recurring metaphor—what else could evoke how utterly adrift such a betrayal sends a child? What other than water is deep and deadly but necessary and life-giving? Such is the brutal complexity Goldstein navigates with unparalleled honesty and vulnerability as he shares his heartbreaking story and his journey toward healing and survival. As he writes, ‘But we are so much more than what we buried.’ A reminder every survivor needs to hear.” —Ruth Awad, author of Set to Music a Wildfire

“I began reading How to Bury a Boy at Sea with a sense of trepidation, given what I knew of its heavy subject matter. I was prepared, in other words, for a sobering read. But not one I could not put down. Not one whose seeking spirit ascends at times to moments of illumination both piercing and devastating in their beauty.” —Ming Lauren Holden, author of Refuge

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Phil Goldstein is a poet, journalist and content marketer. His debut poetry collection, How to Bury a Boy at Sea, will be published by Stillhouse Press in April 2022.

His poetry has been nominated for a Best of the Net award and has appeared in or is forthcoming in The Laurel Review, Rust + Moth, Two Peach, 2River View, Awakened Voices, The Indianapolis Review, Linden Avenue Literary Journal and elsewhere.

By day, he works as a senior editor for a content marketing agency, writing about government technology. He currently lives in Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Jenny, and their animals: a dog named Brenna, and two cats, Grady and Princess.

Fore more news and press, check out Phil’s website.