A Barren Stage: Collected Poems, Essays, Short Stories, and Novels

Matthew de Lacey Davidson has written poems, plays, short stories, and two novels in a variety of styles and genres. This volume incorporates a new cycle of 99 sonnets; a collection of earlier poems which have been revised for this edition; his short story collection, "Roses in December: Haunting and Macabre Tales"; "The Worst Dogs - A Progressive Murder Mystery"; and an historical novel concerning civil rights leader Frederick Douglass' first trip to Ireland in 1845, "Precept - A Novel". "Precept" was voted one of the top ten self-published books of 2018 by thebookbag.co.uk.

Jill Murphy, writing in "thebookbag.co.uk," when reviewing "Roses in December: Haunting and Macabre Tales," gave the following estimation: "The style is elegant with carefully crafted sentences and precision in vocabulary...a pleasure to read...the authorial voice comes with empathy and compassion, always...And I think it speaks to the humanity in all of us. We would do well to listen."

Matthew de Lacey Davidson is the author of two poetry collections and a sonnet cycle; a play in verse; a collection of short stories entitled, "Roses in December: Haunting and Macabre Tales;" a murder mystery novel, The Worst Dogs; and an historical novel about civil rights leader Frederick Douglass' first trip to Ireland, "Precept." "Precept" was voted one of the top ten self-published books of 2018 by thebookbag.co.uk.

He has had poems, articles, cartoons, and short stories published in the online literary journals, "The Junction," "Pickle Fork," and "The Writing Cooperative" (on the website, "Medium.com"); and in the online journal, "Danse Macabre.". He lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, with his wife, Shayna, and a plethora of Siamese and Tonkinese cats.

keywords: Fiction, Short Story, Poetry, Racism, Murder Mystery, Horror, Gothic, African American History, Human Rights, Loss