Myles Gordon is a writer and teacher living in Newton, Massachusetts. Prior to teaching, Myles worked as a television producer, earning four New England Emmy Awards for his work at Boston’s ABC Television affiliate. He also co-produced the independent documentary Touching Lives: Portraits of Deafblind People. He holds a Master of Education from The University of Massachusetts, in Boston, and a Master of Fine Arts from The Vermont College of Fine Arts. He has published poetry in several periodicals and is a past honorable mention for the AWP Intro Award in poetry. He is winner of the Grolier Poetry Prize, and the Helen Kay Chapbook Competition from Evening Street Press.
“Inside the Splintered Wood is tender and deeply human. Myles Gordon is simply an outstanding poet.”
—Kathleen Spivack, author of With Robert Lowell and His Circle
“Myles Gordon’s Inside the Splintered Wood is a very funny book. Even the centerpiece sonnet sequence, a brilliant mosaic of a mother’s life and death, is shot through with offbeat humor—witty, wry, or wacky. But don’ take this poet lightly. He’ll be the one telling the “joke of utter humanity“ when the place blows up.”
—Natasha Saje, author of Bend
“Inside the Splintered Wood, the debut collection from Myles Gordon, is at once brave and ravenous; an embodiment of love starved for itself. “I could buckle / into something /beyond joy,” he warns, “taking / you all with me.” If that sounds like a threat, you’re half right. It’s also a pledge, fulfilled poem after poem. There is danger here, but also gratitude and redemption. Spoken by different voices, real and imagined, famous and infamous, these poems strike at the heart, at its brightest “wood.” This is a remarkable first book.”
—Brendan Constantine, author of Calamity Joe
“A remarkable sonnet sequence lies at the heart of Myles Gordon’s brave collection about family and history and the resulting wounds and recovery. The sonnets unfold steadily, inexorably, reaching into the poet’s core being time and again. The depth of Gordon’s insight is fully matched by the artistry of his verse; he has written a powerful book.”
—Jennifer Barber, author of Given Away
