Published in June 2025.

Dancing with La Muerta is a short cycle of poems by poet Theresa Whitehill that speak of grief and of the impetuous urge to feel fully alive and awake in the face of the loss of her husband of thirty years. Beginning with an homage to fellow poet, William “Bill” Bradd, the work touches on memories of coming of age and other rites of passage, along with the passing of family members, while building a slow, sustained homage to La Muerta, giver of the great gift, consummate dance partner.

“Throughout her reading of these new poems, I was struck by the “insistence to be heard” that the work
possessed. The beauty was there, as well as the dedication to the truth, but I felt there was another element present which I can only describe as being comfortable in the uncomfortable.”

—Devreaux Baker, from the introduction

California-born poet Theresa Whitehill studied with William Everson at UCSC in the late 1970s and in the Mills College Book Art program in the early 1980s. Her books include: Heavy Lifting; A Grammar of Longing; Saudades; and A Natural History of Mill Towns. Her poetry and letterpress broadsides are in international fine press collections including the Getty Center and the British Museum.

Paperback: $14. ISBN: 978-1-300-36517-4

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