“‘I am hand-stitched / to stand witness,’ the speaker in one of Melanie Jordan’s poems tells us, and this impressive debut collection, Hallelujah for the Ghosties, is intricately wrought, woven with rare and wonderful insights. Here, the poet looks into the places we resist, finding in them clarity and beauty, isolation and community. An antebellum portico, the speed of light, the tangled hands of a couple in a museum all serve as revelations in service to Jordan’s hard-earned awareness and sudden wit. This is poetry as artifact—thoughtful, gorgeous, and seamless.”
—Adrian Matejka, author of The Big Smoke
“The poems in Melanie Jordan’s Hallelujah for the Ghosties are lit with astrophysics, ekphrastics and a flawless Southern voice. This book is dynamite.”
—Jillian Weise, author of The Book of Goodbyes