158. Charles K. Carter | The God of Loneliness: a new poetry collection, vulnerability, and taking your time

*Content Warning: Strong language of a sexual nature a few times. Just a heads up.

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Hi there,

Today I am delighted to be arts calling poet and educator Charles K. Carter! ckcpoetry.com

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Charles K. Carter (they/he) is a queer poet and educator from Iowa who currently lives in Oregon. They share their home with their artist husband and their spoiled pets. He enjoys film, yoga, and live music. Melissa Etheridge is their ultimate obsession. Carter has an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University. He is a volunteer video curator for Button Poetry. Their poems have been featured in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. Carter is the author of several chapbooks including Salem Revisited from WordTech Editions. His debut full-length collection, Read My Lips, was released in 2022 by David Robert Books. To coincide with the release of their most recent chapbook, Artificial Sweetness (Finishing Line Press), Carter created the video podcast series #SundaySweetChats, which can be found on YouTube. Kelsay Books released his second full-length, If the World Were a Quilt, in late 2023. Forthcoming books include The God of Loneliness (Rebel Satori Press, 2024) and Follow This Blood to Find a Dead Thing (Fernwood Press, 2025).

THE GOD OF LONELINESS, available from Rebel Satori Press!

Also available at Bookshop.org!

ABOUT: In The God of Loneliness, Charles K. Carter shares their most vulnerable work yet. While using a variety of poetic forms, Carter tackles the tough intersection of isolation, disconnection, and sexuality.

“The God of Loneliness is a plaintive exploration of loving and being loved when compassion for oneself isn’t a given. Carter’s poems—particularly the ‘…in Dreamland’ ones—embody an undisguised vulnerability that is deeply sympathetic but not overwrought or maudlin. Their heartstrings are not meant to be tugged per se but are offered to the reader to help us feel what we must. This is a delicate achievement that you know Carter hurt—and perhaps hurt mightily—to pull off, and it makes The God of Loneliness a deftly earnest and an unquestionably worthy read.” —Daniel W.K. Lee, author of Anatomy of Want

Thanks for this wonderful conversation, Charles! All the best!

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j

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