David R. Godine, Publisher
Softcover (with flaps)
Pages: 64
Size: 4.5” x 7.5”
Published: April 2020
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Finalist for the 2020 New England Book Award for Poetry

In this book-length narrative poem set in rural Virginia, the poet's younger sister Aimee is adrift in a difficult marriage to Mike, an off-the-grid gun shop owner.

These are the dwellers in Wesley McNair's tenth book of poetry, which explores our struggle toward reconciliation in an era when political strife ensnarls our homes and country.

With patience and perseverance, and a belief in compassion and reconciliation, Dwellers in the House of the Lord restores our faith in love's strength to unite us. 

Critical Praise 

“The story [McNair] tells is a broad, American story about immigration, cultural values and place, all embodied in smaller stories of family and home . . .  Ultimately, Dwellers in the House of the Lord is also about reconciliation in the age of division, reconciliation of family and nation.” 
—Maine Sunday Telegram 

“McNair has always managed to insert some humor in his poetry…a kind of wry eye for our foibles. There’s little of that in Dwellers in the House of the Lord. While we might miss it, the times, the poet seems to say, call for a more sober approach.” 
—The Cafe Review 

“What makes this such an exquisite book is the deeply empathetic, soulful vulnerability that carries the narrative forward.” 
—Bookconscious

Advance Praise

“There's so much life in this beautiful book that it feels like a living thing. Wesley McNair is a kind of Chekhov of American poetry.”
—Ted Kooser, Pulitzer Prize winner and former U. S. Poet Laureate