Mike Bonikowsky

A dozen years or so I wrote a story. Then I gave up on it until some friends got a hold of it and made me write it again, and again, and again, until it became a novel. Last summer some more friends, at Solum Literary Press, decided they want to help it become a book. Here it is:

What better end to come to, then When all the fuel has been consumed? Than clean grey ash, and spiralled smoke, And a good scent in His nostrils.

Let us return to ash again, Who burn like incense all day long. Smoke that smells of all we’re made of Rising up as an offering Of childbirth and hospice care Fresh-baked bread and barium Of new-tilled earth and the graves beneath Of all we’ve made, and done, and been.

Me outside

@theworkofbees Absolutely and me too.

Christmas Book Flood

@mikealmquist Legit started to cry at Away In A Manger.

It’s not a Christmas album. It’s not for sale. It is only… The Holiday Hearth.

Still looking for a gift idea? We have plenty of recent releases and familiar favorites available, just in time for the Christmas season. Visit our publications page to see more: solumpress.com/publications

@je_suis_liv @courtneyellis Liv you will love Godric so much. And then you can get right into Brendan (also Buechner, also a wild wild hagiography)

@courtneyellis I've heard good things about Godric by Buechner, Laurus by Vodolazkin, and Cuddy by Myers. Haven't read them, but I've been hunting for them and have high hopes that Eighth Day Books will have them on the shelf. Mink River by Doyle was a delight, though!

I have a New Year’s Eve tradition of falling asleep with a new-to-me novel. I like an epic story with great prose and notes of grace. Previous years I read McCarthy’s The Road, Williams’ Time of the Child, and Millet’s Children’s Bible. What should I read this year?

Nelle harvesting carrots in a foot of snow.

A pattern to be puzzled over, A mystery made to haunt Their days and sleepless nights, Until it teaches them to read One more secret spelling Of the hidden name of God.

Do not be afraid To leave no trace behind you, Except the shape your living made. Let them find the paths you made, Strange and uninterpreted.

Fall silent in a shouting age. Do not be afraid To take the colour of the earth, And be joined with the hidden ones. Go unseen among the glories. Do not be afraid To let yourself be made a sign, For only those with eyes to see. Die unknown among the famous.

@theworkofbees AMAZING

@BretVDB That sure is the feeling.

I can feel the approach of what Frye has called “the terrors of winter.”

I hear a voice that answers it Saying “Stay what you are: A creature among creation. Be small among wonders Known only by your beloved. Be pierced and lifted up Be forgotten, and remembered.”

I hear a voice throughout the land Calling, “Come up higher Be more than what you know you are: Brighter, more beautiful. Sing without opening your mouth Make without creating Kill yourself and live forever.”

One of my favourites in a genre I call “I have no idea what’s happening but the writing is so good it doesn’t matter.”

@je_suis_liv This is incredibly exciting. The team at Solum is wonderful and you are both lucky to have each other. Can’t wait to read this.

Well, I had just about the most wonderful Halloween treat waiting in my inbox last night - a publishing contract with Solum Literary Press! My narrative poem, my birdsong, The Blackbird Ballad, with illustrations from my dear friend, Emily Coffman, coming soon! 🎉