Sold by Gordon Warnock at Foreword Literary to Renda Dodge at Pink Fish Press for publication in fall of 2014, “Jacob, Wrestling” is Davio’s debut verse novel, following the release of her poetry collection, “Burn This House” (Red Hen Press, 2013).

“Jacob, Wrestling” centers around two teens. Jacob is a bipolar, Pentecostal boy who abandons his medication in favor of spiritual healing. He and his girlfriend, Mae, a runaway addict from an abusive home, live a ragged, secluded life in the tunnels beneath a city park in Southern California. When Mae becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she and Jacob must decide whether to emerge from their subterranean world and raise their baby, or to recede further into darkness and fear, bringing an innocent child along with them.

Edgy, dream-like, often frightening and always emotionally-charged, “Jacob, Wrestling” offers readers a story that is both dangerous and tender with an engaging, fast-paced plot and an ending that challenges basic, human assumptions.

Davio’s work has appeared in Best New Poets and Verse Daily, among others. She has served as the Managing Editor of The Los Angeles Review, and is Associate Editor in Poetry for Fifth Wednesday Journal and a reviewer for Women’s Review of Books. She has also written for such industry publications as The Poet’s Market. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.

Davio lives and writes in the Seattle area, where she teaches literature and writing to teens. She blogs at www.kellydavio.com and tweets @kellydavio.