The poems in Mouthfuls of Space offer a dissociative journey through the life of a once homeless recovering drug addict and victim of childhood sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. Tom Prime's debut solo collection was written under the haze of antipsychotics later discovered to have caused many of his symptoms. His hypnotic, surreal voice reveals his transition from the street into the low-paying menial labour of factory work. There is beauty here too, and deeply dark comedy: a sprite-like being imagines his hallucinations as a deeper reality, where indescribable creatures coexist with "hyenas dressed as real estate agents" and those who march in "the skeleton parade." Mouthfuls of Space explores trauma and the dehumanizing enterprise of factory work with sensitivity but also desperation. The voice in these poems struggles to breathe but finds a certain comfort in "the mother-shadow of trees, the old light of vibrating stars."

Tom Prime is in the PhD program at Western University in English. He has an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Victoria (Specializing in Poetry). He has a BA at Western University. He has been published in Brave New Word, Carousel, Ditch, Fjords Review, The Rusty Toque, Lana Turner, Vallum, Watch Your Head, and others. His first chapbook, A Strange Hospital, was published on Proper Tales Press. His chapbook, Gravitynipplemilkplanet Anthroposcenesters, was published on above/ground press. This along with the two Serif of Nottingham chapbooks (Birds are the birthmarks of flight and Throat Fixtures: The Almanack of Dazzle) are collaborations with Gary Barwin. His most recent pamphlet, Common Stock, is on Blasted Tree Press. His collaborative collection of poems written with Gary Barwin, A Cemetery for Holes, is available from Gordon Hill Press. His debut solo collection, Mouthfuls of Space, is scheduled for publication on the Feed Dog imprint of Anvil Press this coming September.

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