The King of Terrors

American Presence: Johnstone’s poetry has been published widely in journals such as POETRY, Poetry Northwest, The Kenyon Review, Poetry Daily, The Rumpus, The Rupture, 32 Poems, and North American Review. His work has also been praised by National Book Award winner Diane Seuss who wrote, “Poetry cannot, and should not, escape the consequences of the echo chamber we have made, and Johnstone is daring in his willingness to take it on. . .”

Sickness and Recovery: The King of Terrors is a book about mortality and social anxiety that Johnstone started writing after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor early in the pandemic. Readers of Max Ritvo’s The Final Voicemails and Brian Teare’s The Empty Form Goes All the Way to Heaven will appreciate its frank depictions of illness and treatment.

© 2023 Coach House Books (Ebook): 9781770567801

Release date

Ebook: 9 November 2023