Based on original reporting from West Africa and the United States, and the poet’s experiences as a doctor and journalist, If God Is A Virus (Haymarket Books) charts the course of the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in history, telling the stories of Ebola survivors, outbreak responders, journalists, and the virus itself. Documentary poems explore which human lives are valued, how editorial decisions are weighed, what role the aid industrial complex plays in crises, and how medical myths and rumor can travel faster than microbes.
These poems also give voice to the virus. Eight percent of the human genome is inherited from viruses and the human placenta would not exist without a gene descended from a virus. If God Is A Virus reimagines viruses as givers of life and even authors of a viral-human self-help book.
Explore the poet's reporting on the Ebola epidemic in West Africa here.
Access a free teaching guide for If God Is a Virus here.
Purchase a copy of the complete collection from Haymarket Books here.