Ghost Man on Second

A debut poetry collection centered on strained family relationships and the search for new homes. Erica Reids debut collection, Ghost Man on Second, traces a daughters search for her place in the world after estrangement from her parents. Reid writes, Its hard to feel at home unless Im aching. Growing from this sense of isolation, Reids poems create new homes in nature, in mythology, and in poetic formsincluding sestinas, sonnets, and golden shovelscontainers that create and hold new realizations and vantage points. Reid stands up to members of her family, asking for healing amid dissolving bonds. These poems move through emotional registers, embodying nostalgia, hurt, and hope. Throughout Ghost Man on Second, the poems portray Reids active grappling with home and confrontation with the ghosts she finds there. Ghost Man on Second is the winner of the 2023 Donald Justice Poetry Prize, selected by Mark Jarman.