Creature Feature

by Dean Young

Genres: Poetry

85 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 7, 2026

About the author

Dean Young is the author of many collections of poetry, including Shock by Shock, Bender: New and Selected Poems, and Elegy on a Toy Piano, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He teaches at the University of Texas, Austin.

Reviews

[Dr. Devine]

I think I have a new poet to add to my favourites.

Wit, humour, and dealing with a brush with death, all masterfully balanced in dense, thought-provoking lines.

The last poem in particular, knowing that he died before this collection was complete, is particularly jarring.

I can't wait to read more.

[Tessa Berman]

A truly beautiful posthumous collection! Dean Young’s poetic soul is pure energy, and these pieces tackling his mortality are explosive. Zest for life, singular humor, and intimations of melancholy saturate every page, with next to no filler. The stream of consciousness is rolling, the NY School style colloquialisms abound, and the ars poeticas are delicious! When my time comes, I hope to leave on something as stunning as “If Anyone Asks.”

“The best endings are abrupt.”

[Lottie]

Finished this and then opened it right back up again

[Dol Leander]

A posthumous collection is always harder to read. The knowledge that the author has said all they're capable of haunts the pages. This is especially true for this work as themes of death rest at the front of the writing. Even so, it's impossible not to feel the life of the work. There is a bright energy and strange humor explored alongside the heartache. Each line of poetry is skillfully laid out with a vividness that allows the mind to visualize each piece the same way one might view a surrealist painting.

[James O'Bannon]

Sealey Challenge day 7