A young war widow at the author’s boarding school molests him and his classmate Sally. Ludilon, a short novel, portrays him as an adult obeying an impulse to learn if Sally is all right. But none of them will ever be all right, not Aisling, the widow, and not the children. The novel and the accompanying poetry collection, Sailing Her Navel, are their testament in their own voices.

Marbrook’s complex and compelling stories will reward your close attention. Here is a mind–and a moral sense–to reckon with. –Carolyn Kizer, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1985

Djelloul Marbrook’s previous works have won critical acclaim and prestigious prizes, including the 2007 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize, the 2010 International Book Award in poetry, and the 2008 Literal Latte fiction prize. As a journalist, poet, writer and activist, he has invested his talent and intellect in an artistic voice exemplifying the best qualities of humanity. Through an engaging, well reasoned and powerfully clear voice, he gives flight to a spiritual awakening and casts a haunting light on the canon of American poetry.