Creature: The Life and Loves of May Swenson

$21.95

Creature: The Life and Loves of May Swenson

Stephen Carter

In the summer of 1936, twenty-three-year-old May Swenson boarded a bus heading east out of her Mormon hometown of Logan, Utah. Her destination was New York City, where she had a single goal: become a poet. Creature tells the story of how this small-town woman fought to achieve her dreams in the Depression-era big city, keeping a roof over her head and honing her craft as she pursued romantic relationships with both men and women. After decades of struggle, Swenson became one of mid-century America’s most beloved and prolific poets.

What is it that makes her poetry so extraordinary? How did she see and reveal the world? How did she teach the art of poetry? And how does her work interact with her Mormon roots? Readers will learn the answers to these questions and more in this artfully written biography.

FALL 2026

paperback $21.95 | ebook $19.99

Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Creature: The Life and Loves of May Swenson

Stephen Carter

In the summer of 1936, twenty-three-year-old May Swenson boarded a bus heading east out of her Mormon hometown of Logan, Utah. Her destination was New York City, where she had a single goal: become a poet. Creature tells the story of how this small-town woman fought to achieve her dreams in the Depression-era big city, keeping a roof over her head and honing her craft as she pursued romantic relationships with both men and women. After decades of struggle, Swenson became one of mid-century America’s most beloved and prolific poets.

What is it that makes her poetry so extraordinary? How did she see and reveal the world? How did she teach the art of poetry? And how does her work interact with her Mormon roots? Readers will learn the answers to these questions and more in this artfully written biography.

FALL 2026

paperback $21.95 | ebook $19.99

Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Stephen Carter is the author of Virginia Sorensen: Pioneering Mormon Author and editor of Sunstone magazine. His graphic novel, iPlates: Prophets, Priests, Rebels, and Kings (with illustrator Jett Atwood), was named one of the Association for Mormon Letters’ 100 significant works of Mormon literature, along with his edited collection, Moth and Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death. In recognition, he received the 2023 Smith-Pettit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters. He has a PhD in narrative studies and lives in Orem, Utah, with his family.

Biography
ISBN: 978-1-56085-539-2