Award-winning writer Denton Loving is set to release his third full-length collection of poetry, Feller. The book is being published by Mercer University Press, and will be available on August 5, 2025.
Loving’s work in Feller uses the natural world as both a mirror and a lens to explore themes of connection, longing, and the pursuit of a fully lived life. The poems seek the sacred order in everything from the phases of the moon down to the delicate colors of a moth’s wings. Feller is deeply rooted in the Appalachian soil but is also universally resonant. The book confirms Loving’s position among those rare poets who transmute a sense of place into profound human truth.
Feller has received early praise already. Elaine Sexton, author of Site Specific: New & Selected Poems, said, “Loving makes lyric sense of complex issues in poem after poem in Feller, with his special blend of eco-poetics and earthly reason.” Matt W. Miller, author of Tender the River, described Feller as “at once timely and timeless” and “a superbly striking and essential book.” Annie Woodford, author of Where You Come From Is Gone, described Feller as “a transformative, joyful, loneliness-alleviating experience,” and the poems within as “ love poems, loss poems, [and] poems that open doors to new worlds.”
Loving said, “When I was writing the poems in Feller, I was thinking a lot about the everyday human struggle—the way we interact with the environment and with other people, and the internal struggles we have with our own selves. I’m particularly interested in our relationships with the places we live, and in exploring the ways that nature can help illuminate who we really are.”
Loving, who lives on a farm in Speedwell, Tennessee, near the historic Cumberland Gap, has gained recognition for writing that is rooted in the landscapes and experiences of Appalachia. His poetry has been praised for its lyrical precision and emotional resonance. In 2024, he was named the recipient of the first-ever Tennessee Book Award in the poetry category, an award established by Humanities Tennessee in collaboration with the Tennessee State Library and Archives, for his second full-length publication, Tamp.
A 1996 graduate of LMU, Loving served the University in its Office of University Advancement until 2015. During that time, he also worked to establish LMU’s Mountain Heritage Literary Festival, which he co-directed for over a decade. He holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from Bennington College and has an extensive background in public relations, marketing, and journalism. Loving’s enduring connection to LMU and his dedication to the literary arts exemplify the University’s mission of fostering creativity and lifelong learning. He was inducted into the LMU Literary Hall of Fame in 2015.
Loving is also the author of Crimes Against Birds (Main Street Rag) and editor of the print anthology Seeking Its Own Level: Writings About Water (MotesBooks). His work spans poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and literary reviews. In addition to his writing, he is an editor at EastOver Press and its literary journal Cutleaf. For more information on Loving and his work visit https://dentonloving.com.
Feller is available now for pre-order directly from Mercer University Press. It’s also available from online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org and independent bookstores everywhere.
