She Was Wild Grass

COMING FALL 2026
 
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A groundbreaking hybrid memoir, She Was Wild Grass deftly intertwines Bennett’s own artistic coming-of-age with the haunting story of Joan Vollmer, the remarkable yet overlooked figure of the Beat Generation whose life was tragically cut short when her husband, William S. Burroughs, shot her in 1951.
 
Braiding past and present, Bennett explores art, ambition, gender, and freedom, asking what it means to create in a world where women’s stories are so often silenced and forgotten. At once intimate and unflinching, it brings Vollmer out from the shadows of literary history while charting the risks and revelations of Bennett’s own search for an artistic path.
 
About the author: Katie Bennett is a writer and musician based in West Philadelphia. Her work has appeared in Lit Hub, swamp pink, and Salmagundi. She’s held fellowships from Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and Monson Arts, and she’s a contributing editor for Zona Motel.
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An exclusive gift for preorder readers!
 
Preorder She Was Wild Grass and receive Notes on Grass, a limited-edition physical zine by Katie Bennett, mailed exclusively to preorder readers.
 
Part field journal, part correspondence, Notes on Grass is a behind-the-scenes companion to the book: the research that shaped it, the process that made it, the questions that wouldn't let go. Printed and physical, made to be held. Limited edition, available only with preorder