West Routt Library District

Originally published in 1898, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" is a poem written by Oscar Wilde. Composed after his release from the titular prison whilst he was in exile in Berneval-le-Grand, the poem deals with the hanging at Reading Goal of Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a 30-year-old man who was imprisoned for cutting his wife's throat. Within the poem, Wilde narrates the execution in full and explores the brutal nature of the punishment that all inmates...

Navigating the roller coaster of living a gay life can prove challenging when inundated by religious judgment and misunderstanding. Sticked, Stoned & Bottled, a poem by Scott Gibson, uses a prescriptive form as a metaphor for the structured life that organized religion and other man-made institutions attempt to create. Gibson's language flows with the ups and downs of life, beautiful at times yet laborious at others, giving the reader the emotional...