Willow Books Announces Cedric Tillman's LILIES IN THE VALLEY

Willow Books is pleased to announce the publication of Lilies In The Valley, a debut collection by poet Cedric Tillman.

Tillman's religion-inflected Southern slang spices poems divided into sections with names such as "This Little Light of Mine" and "Parables." His work contemplates themes ranging from pop culture and the drudgeries of working in retail to love, family & faith. Myra Sklarew, Professor Emerita at American University (Lithuania: New & Selected Poems), hails Tillman's capacity for "maneuvering between the sacred and the secular" and lauds the collection for its "...unforgettable people...Ms. Johnnie who offers protection to a woman whose husband has pushed her down the stairs: 'if you want/I got something that'll bark over here/and bite over yonder.' And the answer: 'The Lord'll judge/between me and he.' But our narrator doesn't leave it there; he goes to a harder place: 'that black print showing/through his Wild Irish white-out' ("Memory"). This is Robert Hayden's American Journal brought forward from the distance into a world that is authentic, intimate, loving..." Brian Gilmore, poet & associate professor of Law at Michigan State University (Elvis Presley is alive and living in Harlem) acclaims Lilies as "...poetic scripture...modern poetry...grounded in the past. It is hip-hop and Sunday morning, church dinner chatter, love and happiness, Carolina shouts and sermons."

Cedric's work has appeared in Kakalak, Folio, The Drunken Boat, Home Is Where: An Anthology of African American Poets From the Carolinas, Crosscut, Inspirit & Cave Canem Anthology XII. He received a BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a MFA in Creative Writing from The American University in Washington, DC. He is also a Cave Canem Fellow. Cedric spent his early years in Lilesville, NC before moving with his family to Charlotte, NC, where he currently resides.

Willow Books

Willow Books is an imprint of Aquarius Press. The mission of Willow Books is to develop, publish and promote writers typically underrepresented in the literary field. Our catalog includes work from poets such as Adrienne Christian, Alan King, Arisa White, Angela Narciso Torres, Derrick Harriell, Gary Copeland Lilley, Lita Hooper, Makalani Bandele, and Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Our popular line of books is available for purchase at aquariuspress.myshopify.com and amazon.com.

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