Connoisseurs of Worms

Connoisseurs of Worms is a bestiary, a theogony, a field guide, a museum guide, a pantheon, a history of learning … Reading these poems will alter your thinking about a good many of the things that share heaven and earth with us. –Mark Jarman, author of The Heronry and Dailiness Warren goes anywhere, inhabits anything: it is fun to see a poet so willing to embrace metamorphosis … A great book. The Millions

Deborah Warren’s witty and energetic poems are full of play and imagination. The title poem of Connoisseurs of Worms describes the mole, a ‘geonaut supreme’ with his oddly enviable tunnel vision. Other animals prompt views about humans, and not always happy ones. Alongside Charlemagne’s elephant and an intracoronary mosquito, topics include a queen with an alleged tail, laughter-divination, Neanderthal hygiene, and an exploding baby. These poems delight in new perspectives and an astounding verbal music.