“Art is dangerous. Life is dangerous. Kathleen Tyler’s marvelous, truth-telling Open the Window and Drown records the dangers — and also the revelations that come when those dangers are embraced. Tyler unwraps the puzzles of Kandinsky’s art with more enticing puzzles: “sleepless I mull/ over this painting that calls the crow’s bluff.” She defines her own life with, “…it is my job to face always/ the wind the flat bay// my heart that nothing gets past.” The poetry constantly surprises us, thrills us.

As the poet and her vision are transformed, so are we, her readers. Dangerous, yes — exhilarating, of course. Kathleen Tyler’s Open the Window and Drown is masterful, a highly welcome addition to the poetry of our time. “

-Holly Prado

Kathleen Tyler earned her BA from UCLA and her MA from Loyola Marymount, both in English Literature. Her publications include The Secret Box from Mayapple Press, My Florida from Backwaters Press, and Open the Window and Drown from Kelsay Books (December, 2017).

Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Quiddity, Women Write Resistance Anthology, The Rattling Wall (Pen/USA), Visions International, Runes, Solo, Poetry Motel, Margie, Seems, and Cider Press Review.

Open the Window and Drown was a finalist in the BrightHorse Books Contest.

She has been a featured reader at many venues in Southern California and in Florida.

After living in Los Angeles for thirty-five years, Kathleen Tyler has returned to her southern roots and now lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. She devotes most of her time to writing, baking bread, and making books.

Poetry Collections