Holy the Body: Poems (Volume 44)

by Donovan McAbee

Genres: Poetry

100 pages, Paperback

Published March 4, 2026

About the author

Donovan McAbee is a poet, songwriter, and essayist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME magazine, The Hudson Review, The Sun Magazine (US), Garden & Gun, Poetry London, and a variety of other places. His academic monograph Charles Simic and the Poetics of Uncertainty was published in 2020. He grew up in a small town in South Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD in Creative Writing and Contemporary Poetry from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and their two children. His poetry collection Holy the Body, published in March by Texas Review Press, was chosen as one of "2026's Most Anticipated Books" by Garden & Gun magazine.

Reviews

[Eric Steere]

Like sharing milk shakes at the diner with a saint. Brilliant, big-hearted poems that invite the sacred and profound into the big and little moments of life. Expansive. Unpretentious. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Elvis Alves]

Donovan's wit helps relieve some of the heft of this collection. Highly recommend.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin]

In this collection, the poet muses about life, its little victories and big disappointments, waxing poetically prosaic in his observations of human foibles and the frailties of the body, that holy incarnation wherein dwells the orgasmic divine. “Holy the Body” is a revelation. Lovely artwork.

“Tear yourself away from the illusion
that the things you cling to will cling to you
when your grip loosens and your fingers slip;
it’s easier letting go before you have to.
—“Instructions for Prayer,” p. 73


Favorite Poems:
“Sightings”
“Coming Back Down”
“A Strategy of Avoidance”
“Holy the Body”
“The Essence of the Thing”
“Instructions for Prayer”

[Kristin]

Thank you to Texas Review Press for the review copy! This is a truly excellent collection of #poetry that combines corporeality and spirituality, faith and doubt, human and divine connection in a down to earth, human, and often humorous manner. I loved it.

[Raven]

Creative lol loved it

[Kayleigh Papagelis]

I have so much respect for this kind of faith. These poems are absolutely beautiful and there’s so much to find inside of them, even if you aren’t religious.