How do the words we use shape our thoughts and actions? Can poems disrupt passivity, or is art one of its conduits? Spit on the Devil is a lyrical evocation of these questions and a searing interrogation of progressive sentiments during a time of regressive politics. Combining outrage and robust hope, this collection breathes new life into classic poetic styles and deftly explores the tensions between repetition and change, past and present. Shaped by love and ancestors in many forms, by lost homes, city spaces, and motherhood, Bernstein's poems embrace the whirl of life and sing insurrection against apathy and fear.

Samantha Bernstein is a Toronto writer and a PHD candidate at York University. Her first book, the memoir, Here We Are Among The Living was nominated for a B.C. National Award for Nonfiction. Her poetry has appeared in Exile, The Fiddlehead Literary Journal, The Whitewall Review and many others and she was featured in Sook Yin Lee's documentary Where Have All The Poets Gone discussing the influence of her father, the legendary poet Irving Layton.

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