Paperback edition is out of print. In 2020, Rebel Satori released a special illustrated hardcover edition.
In Ash, acclaimed poet Jeff Mann has created a haunting and intense examination of Norse mythology, extending from the creation of the universe to its end in the flames of Ragnarok. Here are many voices: All-Father Odin, bound to the World Tree; Thor, the protector of mankind and battler of monsters; Balder, the gentle god treacherously slain; Sigurd, killer of a gold-hoarding dragon; Brynhild, love-sick and vengeful Valkyrie; and Surt, the demon who burns the earth and sky to ash. Here are many worlds: a seething snake-pit, a burning mead hall, an open tomb, Valhalla s vigorous feasting and lovemaking, fir forests and Nordic snows. These poems range from the speech of gods and heroes to autobiographical lyrics that use myth as an entry into eternal human concerns: love, hate, loss, death, and rebirth.
Jeff Mann grew up in Covington, Virginia, and Hinton, West Virginia, receiving degrees in English and forestry from West Virginia University. His poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in many publications, including Arts and Letters, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Willow Springs, The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Crab Orchard Review, Bloom and Appalachian Heritage. He has published three award-winning poetry chapbooks, Bliss, Mountain Fireflies and Flint Shards from Sussex; two full-length books of poetry, Bones Washed with Wine and On the Tongue; two collections of personal essays, Edge: Travels of an Appalachian Leather Bear and Binding the God: Ursine Essays from the Mountain South; a novella, Devoured, included in Masters of Midnight: Erotic Tales of the Vampire; a book of poetry and memoir, Loving Mountains, Loving Men; and a volume of short fiction, A History of Barbed Wire, which won a Lambda Literary Award. He teaches creative writing at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
