Thirteen nocturnes, Sheppard, Oliver

Thirteen Nocturnes was a Finalist for the Elgin Award for Best Full-Length Poetry Collection in 2020. In 2018, Thirteen Nocturnes also earned a spot on the Bram Stoker Awards Preliminary Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection; at that time it was also placed on the Bram Stoker Awards Recommended Reading List. Four poems from Thirteen Nocturnes were accorded Recommended status in Ellen Datlows BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR, Vol. 11 (2019). Those our poems are included in this collection. They are: Demons, The Trees That Make the Gallows, Nocturne No. 5, and Nocturne No. 13.

REVIEWS

Oliver Sheppard is a major new voice in the genre of macabre poetry. Sheppard is also an impeccable craftsman. [Thirteen Nocturnes contains] many poems of uniformly high craftsmanship, not to mention creativity. These are very dark poems indeed, and very inventive in their celebration of darkness and the macabre. As expressed on the back cover, this volume does in fact announce a cold poetics of the macabre in the new dark age of the Anthropocene, emphasis on that po, if not Poe himself.
-Donald Sidney-Fryer, Spectral Realms (June, 2021)

Thirteen Nocturnes is an excellent collection of mostly gothic poetry, illustrated with appropriately moody photography and art.
-Ellen Datlow, editor, Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 11 (2019)

Thirteen Nocturnes is gothic in every sense of the word; from the writing style, the themes, to Olivers own influences. Without a doubt, this bountiful collection raises the bar for contemporary gothic poetry. Its so rare in this day and age to find poetry written in such a sophisticated and profound manner. Sheppard combines a down-to-earth modernism with an old school style which makes for a fanciful and unique experience for the reader.
-Sar Blackthorn, CVLT Nation (2018)

What I appreciated most in Thirteen Nocturnes was Sheppards ability to evoke feelings associated with night, darkness, and solitude. They also evoked memories. I appreciate any form of art that can tap into my thoughts and feelings and Sheppard obviously has that ability.
-Kurt Morris, Razorcake (Dec., 2018)

Reading Sheppards poetry is a little like listening to a conversation between Nietzsche and William Blake during a showing of Peckinpahs Cross of Iron. Using a wide range of forms and cultural references, Sheppard illustrates the human condition in ways that take as much account of its absence as its presence... Given the chance, Sheppard will lead you down dark and unfamiliar paths, to moments of weird beauty.
-from the foreword by John Foster

Oliver Sheppard is a pretty damn good writer.
-Chris Mosley, D Magazine