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Her Dark Everything
Part elegy to a friend who died by suicide, part love poem to a friend who continues to survive, Her Dark Everything is a collection that will pull you through the darkest depths until you feel the light against your skin. It will make you grieve for those who have lost the battle against the beast that is depression while simultaneously making you grateful for those who stay and fight. In equal measures dark and light, soft and sharp, Her Dark Everything will roost in your heart permanently.
***
If you blend radiance with darkness, hope with death then hope again, and tie them into a gorgeous friendship knot, you’ll glimpse the brilliance of Courtney LeBlanc’s Her Dark Everything. This collection, an elegy to her friend Paula and a love poem to her best friend Virginia, is nothing short of breathtaking. Few poets make me eagerly await their next book, but LeBlanc’s edgy, funny, fierce, fearless, and engaging voice always delivers. Titles like “Both Girls & Wolves Have Sharp Teeth,” “I Try to Write a Poem While My Best Friend Gets a Ketamine Infusion for Her Depression,” “I’m Teaching a Workshop on Titles and Couldn’t Come Up with a Better One for This Poem,” and “Abecedarian for Wanting to Die” promise a wild ride through grief and resilience. LeBlanc’s lines cut deep and resonate long after the page is turned: I know 2 women who have died by suicide + the year isn’t over and I’m trying to write about joy, trying / to find honey in the words, trying / to lick it from my fingertips and let / it be enough. Her Dark Everything is a masterclass in balancing raw vulnerability with poignant celebration. This is a gorgeous and meaningful collection of poems that you won’t be able to put down—and won’t want to. Her Dark Everything is a testament to poetry’s power to heal, transform, and find light and beauty even in the darkest times.
~ Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Dialogues with Rising Tides
In her fourth, full-length poetry collection, Her Dark Everything, Courtney LeBlanc approaches grief, friendship & what it means to be human with tenderness and candor. These revelatory poems include experimental forms and traditional elegies, all characterized by universal, timeless questions about what it means to be human in a world that often annihilates us. What if we had been able to save a friend lost to suicide? What if we “demanded more” of life? What if the pills went “unswallowed?” These poems confront loss and survival, yes—but they also ask us to consider whether we are making the most of our own lives in the time that we have—and if not, why not?
~ Joan Kwon Glass, author of Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms and Night Swim
Her Dark Everything is the masterful fourth collection Courtney LeBlanc brings to readers in a poignant exploration of grief and self-acceptance, weaving enormous loss with the broader theme of embracing one's inner darkness. LeBlanc's poetry captures the raw, visceral experience of mourning a friend gone tragically too soon, using everyday objects like poetry workshops and black nail polish, and moments as powerful symbols of memory, nostalgia, and emotion. Her language is both delicate and fierce, as she paints lyrical scenes for readers into the intimate process of grappling with sorrow and seeking brightness in the midst of despair. Courtney LeBlanc’s collection is a testament to the power of poetry to heal and transform, and ultimately, provides the blueprint on hope.
~ Bree Bailey, author of Wailing on Whisper Street
***
If you blend radiance with darkness, hope with death then hope again, and tie them into a gorgeous friendship knot, you’ll glimpse the brilliance of Courtney LeBlanc’s Her Dark Everything. This collection, an elegy to her friend Paula and a love poem to her best friend Virginia, is nothing short of breathtaking. Few poets make me eagerly await their next book, but LeBlanc’s edgy, funny, fierce, fearless, and engaging voice always delivers. Titles like “Both Girls & Wolves Have Sharp Teeth,” “I Try to Write a Poem While My Best Friend Gets a Ketamine Infusion for Her Depression,” “I’m Teaching a Workshop on Titles and Couldn’t Come Up with a Better One for This Poem,” and “Abecedarian for Wanting to Die” promise a wild ride through grief and resilience. LeBlanc’s lines cut deep and resonate long after the page is turned: I know 2 women who have died by suicide + the year isn’t over and I’m trying to write about joy, trying / to find honey in the words, trying / to lick it from my fingertips and let / it be enough. Her Dark Everything is a masterclass in balancing raw vulnerability with poignant celebration. This is a gorgeous and meaningful collection of poems that you won’t be able to put down—and won’t want to. Her Dark Everything is a testament to poetry’s power to heal, transform, and find light and beauty even in the darkest times.
~ Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Dialogues with Rising Tides
In her fourth, full-length poetry collection, Her Dark Everything, Courtney LeBlanc approaches grief, friendship & what it means to be human with tenderness and candor. These revelatory poems include experimental forms and traditional elegies, all characterized by universal, timeless questions about what it means to be human in a world that often annihilates us. What if we had been able to save a friend lost to suicide? What if we “demanded more” of life? What if the pills went “unswallowed?” These poems confront loss and survival, yes—but they also ask us to consider whether we are making the most of our own lives in the time that we have—and if not, why not?
~ Joan Kwon Glass, author of Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms and Night Swim
Her Dark Everything is the masterful fourth collection Courtney LeBlanc brings to readers in a poignant exploration of grief and self-acceptance, weaving enormous loss with the broader theme of embracing one's inner darkness. LeBlanc's poetry captures the raw, visceral experience of mourning a friend gone tragically too soon, using everyday objects like poetry workshops and black nail polish, and moments as powerful symbols of memory, nostalgia, and emotion. Her language is both delicate and fierce, as she paints lyrical scenes for readers into the intimate process of grappling with sorrow and seeking brightness in the midst of despair. Courtney LeBlanc’s collection is a testament to the power of poetry to heal and transform, and ultimately, provides the blueprint on hope.
~ Bree Bailey, author of Wailing on Whisper Street
- GenresPoetry
78 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2025
13 people want to read
About the author
Courtney LeBlanc
14 books99 followersCourtney LeBlanc is the author of the full-length collections Her Dark Everything; Her Whole Bright Life (winner of the Jack McCarthy Book Prize); Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart; and Beautiful & Full of Monsters. She is the Arlington County Poet Laureate and the founder and editor-in-chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press. She’s also the founder of the Poetry Coven, a monthly generative workshop she runs out of her home. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning. Find her online at www.courtneyleblanc.com.
Find her on Instagram: @wordperv79
Like her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/poetry.CourtneyLeBlanc
Follow her on TBluesky: @wordperv.bsky.social
Find her on Instagram: @wordperv79
Like her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/poetry.CourtneyLeBlanc
Follow her on TBluesky: @wordperv.bsky.social
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 18, 2025
A really beautiful book of poetry that treats friendship as the most central, essential part of life.
May 1, 2025
Beautiful. LeBlanc delicately balances mourning a friend and celebrating the depth of female friendship. I love hearing these poems & then experiencing them on the page.
The moving every-day of simple pleasures in a long friendship:
"We fill champagne flutes / with the bubble water we now both substitute / and raise our glasses high. / We toast another year / just like this." (64)
LaBlanc also nails the art of titling poems, with titles like WE LIVE IN AMERICA, HERE'S HOW WE SURVIVE and I TRY TO WRITE A POEM WHILE MY BEST FRIEND GETS A KETAMINE INFUSION FOR HER DEPRESSION.
It's been an honor to share the stage with Courtney so many times! Get her books & go hear her read.
The moving every-day of simple pleasures in a long friendship:
"We fill champagne flutes / with the bubble water we now both substitute / and raise our glasses high. / We toast another year / just like this." (64)
LaBlanc also nails the art of titling poems, with titles like WE LIVE IN AMERICA, HERE'S HOW WE SURVIVE and I TRY TO WRITE A POEM WHILE MY BEST FRIEND GETS A KETAMINE INFUSION FOR HER DEPRESSION.
It's been an honor to share the stage with Courtney so many times! Get her books & go hear her read.
April 3, 2025
I couldn't put this down and then had to re-read it all in one sitting. Courtney LeBlanc's poetry drives over winding roads like a jeep--gritty, capable, promising to get you where you're going in one piece but knowing you will go over the bumps and around the corners getting there. The tenderness of her words about the friend who died and the one who lives catch in your throat. Her humor and openness invite you to hang in and know the world contains both hardship and joy. Read this whether you're a poetry fan or not. Courtney speaks to all of us.
January 15, 2026
Very emotional collection. I enjoyed the rawness of every emotion. There were a few poems I read through initially that didn’t immediately resonate but by the end I had to go back and read it again with different eyes; like fact finding then connecting the pieces. The others that really caught my attention were “Mad libs for after she dies,” “Another Poem For You,” and my favorite “Wild Delight.”
March 30, 2025
Every time I read one of her books, I'm awed at the strength that she displays and the brilliance of her words. I don't know that I would keep my life together like she has had I experienced the things that she has. If you're struggling, want to see the light, feel the fear of life, read LeBlanc's books of poetry, and you'll immediately know you have a soulmate.
August 2, 2025
Fresh and beautifully touching, I found so much to enjoy and feel wonder about in this collection. Each poem made me think and I came away with a new perspective on life and death alike. One of the best marks of a good book is its ability to inspire words in others, and I drafted four new poems while I read this in two sittings today.
January 14, 2025
I wrote this book so of course I give it 5-stars. ;) I hope you love these poems and if you see yourself in this book -- I'm holding space for you.
April 26, 2025
I absolutely loved this book. Courtney LeBlanc's newest collection, as always, resonates with me. I value the vulnerability and honesty in her work.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews