Collections & Selected Poems
Recently published poems from a manuscript-in-process have appeared
in Poetry Magazine and at CODE LIT.
The Naomi Letters
Rachel Mennies embraces the public/private duality of writing letters in her latest collection of poems. Told through a time-honored epistolary narrative, The Naomi Letters chronicles the relationship between a woman speaker and Naomi, the woman she loves.
The Naomi Letters is currently available from BOA Editions. More details about the collection, virtual book tour, and more can be found here. You can read poems from The Naomi Letters at The Believer, Kenyon Review, On the Seawall, and The Adroit Journal. A b-side from the collection, "September 23, 2016," appeared in Sumita Chakraborty's May 2021 curation of the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day feature.
The Glad Hand of God Points Backwards
The Glad Hand of God Points Backwards won the 2014 Walt McDonald First Book Prize in Poetry and is currently available from Texas Tech University Press in hardcover and (re-released in October 2022!) paperback. It was named a finalist for the 2015 National Jewish Book Award.
For more news, reviews, and information about The Glad Hand of God Points Backwards, check out the book's Tumblr page.
The Familiar Wild: On Dogs & Poetry
What does it mean for a poet to love a dog—especially knowing it will never outlive them? The Familiar Wild: On Dogs & Poetry, edited for Sundress Publications and released in spring 2020, catapults readers into the marrows of living and feeling alongside our mysterious canines: a species that often teaches us about what it means to be human. These selections, as chosen by editors Ruth Awad and Rachel Mennies, interrogate our lives as they’ve intertwined with humanity’s most beloved house companion.
No Silence in the Fields
No Silence in the Fields is available from Blue Hour Press in both digital (free!) and print formats. Poems from the chapbook have appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Indiana Review, DIAGRAM, Cream City Review, and Sycamore Review.