After being in the works for more than 20 years, a PennWest professor’s poetry book is set for a 2023 release.

Author Brent House, professor of English and creative writing, sent his final manuscript to the publisher earlier this month. The title of the collection is, The Wingtip Prophecy.

“The poetry collection has taken over 20 years to complete, as I’ve worked to perfect each poem,” House said. “Several of the poems in that collection were written in the final years of the 20^th century and the first years of the 21^st century.”

House said the collection has pulled a lot of influence from his father, whom he idolized from a young age.

“Even though I’m no longer farming, this poetry collection is an attempt to ‘farm’ my memory of the years I spent on the farm with my father, and the poems, created from the setting of the farm and the stories of my father, have become the crop I’m harvesting,” House said.

April Gloaming Publishers is an independent press based in Nashville, TN. House said April Gloaming prioritizes in promoting the work of poets and writers from the American South.

House said publishing a collection of poetry is a difficult process for poets, as they search for the right publishers for their work. April Gloaming wasn’t the first publisher House went to though.

House said the book collection was submitted as early as 2013 to numerous contests from publishers such as Ghost Peach Press, Paraclete Press, Backlash Press, C&R Press, Nightboat Books, and The Center for Literary Publishing at the University of Colorado.

House finally received a publication contract in 2021.

“Those publishers considered the collection closely, but my work wasn’t a good fit with their goals for their press,” House said.

Along with his father, House said the collection also draws on the impact from his childhood on a small, family farm in Mississippi.

“Many of the poems focus on my effort (and subsequent failure) to follow in his footsteps, to master the art of farming and the experience of wonder in the natural world,” House said.

The Wingtip Prophecy will be available for purchase through the publisher’s website and Amazon.