Books – Constance Brewer

Astronomy Lessons

Introducing Astronomy Lessons, a 60-page book of poems exploring the relationships between myth, science, and creating meaning from the night sky.

Praise for Astronomy Lessons

Ever dreamed of becoming a constellation? It may not be what you imagine. In this collection Constance Brewer takes on multiple personas, modern and mythological, all attempting to wrestle with “things (they) don’t understand—/ cosmology, evolution, personal relationships” through metaphors and motifs of astronomy. Using cosmic imagery and lyrical story-telling these poems take us through the trajectory of growing up, growing older, finding and losing love and looking for it again, all against the backdrop of a cosmos that is comparatively vast and yet familiar. Though this collection seeks for wisdom it often leaves us with the mystery of unanswerable questions, like “what should we think about before we drink from the river Lethe” and “what is love but a failed picture of the moon?”

—Tresha Faye Haefner, author of When the Moon Had Antlers (Pine Row Press, 2023, Finalist for the Glass Lyre Poetry Prize) and Founder of The Poetry Salon

Constance Brewer’s Astronomy Lessons scatters poems across the night sky of an emotional landscape we all know: love. Whether love’s objects are lovers, parents, children, or earth itself, these poems orbit around that which pulls us to reach farther, hold tighter, look deeper. The physics of love are everywhere. Brewer writes, It’s the passage of filament from one person / to another where theory goes astray….leaving us unable to explain the one thing / that would help us explain everything. Yet these poems somehow contain everything we might feel as we gaze upward, when we’re waiting / for science, having long given up on gods. That’s when we understand we are all made of star dust.

—Kathleen Cassen Mickelson, co-founding editor of Gyroscope Review, and co-author of Prayer Gardening.

Click HERE for PDF Excerpt

Astronomy Lessons is available on Amazon as a paperback and as a Kindle ebook

Copies are also available from the author.

Coming in 2026

The Demigod’s Daughter, an Epic Fantasy

All royal artist Kadi ever wanted was to create her frescos and raise her magically talented daughter in peace. But when kidnappers snatch her child, the kingdom teeters on the brink of civil war. Reluctantly, she turns to the child’s father, Dzaro, a rebellious magician with a checkered past who is far more than he appears. Dzaro is a demigod, stripped of his divine powers for a terrible transgression.

Meanwhile, an ambitious military officer uncovers Dzaro’s true nature and hatches a ruthless plan. Believing that killing a god will grant him the god’s place in the heavens, he summons a powerful demon to track down Dzaro, offering Kadi’s daughter as the ultimate prize.

As enemies close in from every side, Kadi and Dzaro, along with a small band of unlikely allies, race against time to rescue the child before she falls into the hands of demonic forces. Now, with the kingdom at risk and her daughter in danger, Kadi confronts a brutal reality: the only way forward might be to kill Dzaro herself.

PDF Excerpt of Chapter One

Prayer Gardening

by Constance Brewer & Kathleen Cassen Mickelson

Nominated for the Eric Hoffer Book Award

“Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction.” C.S. Lewis

I’m pleased to announce the release of my newest poetry book, the chapbook Prayer Gardening, co-authored with poet Kathleen Cassen Mickelson. We’ve worked together for years, first as assistant editors at Every Day Poets, then as co-founders of Gyroscope Review poetry magazine, and also exchanging poems for critiques. Our work covered similar interests and themes, and this collection grew organically out of our poetic conversations.

Prayer Gardening speaks of the way we connect to each other, nature, and the world around us. It takes a deep dive into what makes us human, and how we forge relationships. The chapbook alternates between two voices that explore connections and discover our similarities more than our differences.

Collaboration Discussion and Reading by the authors.

In this video we discuss how we came to collaborate, and the joys and pitfalls of working with another author toward a common goal.

Morning Worship by Constance Brewer

Night Poem # 1 by Kathleen Cassen Mickelson

Prayer Gardening is available from Kelsay Books:

Prayer Gardening

Prayer Gardening is also available as a paperback here:

Prayer Gardening – Amazon

Or available from the authors

constance.brewer (at) gmail.com, or through this website’s contact form.

Praise for Prayer Gardening:

Constance Brewer writes in Prayer Gardening, “my eyes adjust to nuance,” and my eyes do too, as a reader of this evocative chapbook that explores daily life with fresh eyes. These are poems of gratitude, in Kathleen Cassen Mickelson’s words, for the landscape “in which I love everything/the traffic, the gas pumps/the bus bench, the library…,” while also acknowledging “the hunger beneath every song.” The interplay between the two poets immerses us in family relationships, encounters with the natural world, and most of all, a mature understanding of the contradictions in all of our lives, for “What is love but a failed picture of the moon.”

–Joanne Durham, author of To Drink from a Wider Bowl and On Shifting Shoals

The earth-toned poems in Prayer Gardening by Constance Brewer and Kathleen Cassen Mickelson burble along the riverbank, lace themselves among the trees, tease us through seasons, give us glimpses of dreams, the yeasty smell of bread rising, the moon, angels, and even origami. And, oh, the birds—glorious, full-throated, “each voice as one small part of a choir,” (KCM) “light arrowing down/ to anoint… with purpose”(CB). Though there are two distinct voices here, one cannot help but deduce they are both channeling the same dazzling earth-centric deity.

-Kari Gunter-Seymour, Ohio Poet Laureate, author of Alone in the House of My Heart

Prayer Gardening sparkles with birds, stars, and snowflakes. In these pages we feel touch “sweep my soul/back into my body” and “hear the hunger beneath every song.” Constance Brewer and Kathleen Cassen Mickelson’s words call us to “whisper thanks for this breath,” reminding us to fully inhabit our lives—as the best poetry always does.

– Laura Grace Weldon, 2019 Ohio Poet of the Year, author of Portals

Piccola Poesie: A Nibble of Short Form Poems

Piccola Poesie contains a variety of Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, and American Sentences that explore human relationships, our relationship with nature, and with everyday objects around us. The poems wheel through the seasons and incorporate observations and commentary in appreciation of everyday life. These short, easily digestible poems permit the reader to find answers to important questions like, ‘What’s up with cats, anyhow?’ and why winter causes poets to rush outdoors to witness the season. Like macarons, the reader can enjoy these poems as daily treats, or they can be gobbled down by the handful.

100 small-bite poems for a fast-moving world.

You can find it in print form on Amazon or as an ebook on Amazon.

(If you purchase, please consider leaving an Amazon review. The karma squirrels will smile on you.)

Praise for Piccola Poesie

Judge’s Commentary on Piccola Poesie from the 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards

I love this cover design! It is perfect for the contents of the collection, indicates the short-form variety quite well, and is well made. I think it also reflects the vibe of the poems inside while drawing readers in. The collection is well formatted, with consistent structure and clear easy to read text. I appreciated and was impressed that throughout this collection there is a variety of feeling, emotion, topics, and moments expressed and all through such short tight bites of poetry. That’s not easy to do! I really liked p. 93, which made me hungry and also had me remembering moments where I had prepared food for myself and others I cared about. The humor in p.85 lamenting age and changing bodies and pointing at the passage of time by going to the gym, cracked me up and made me think. There’s a great talent here and I’d love to see what could be done with more slightly lengthier spaces. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this collection is how relatable these poems are, and, while short, they manage to create something readers can view through their own perspective and in that way find common ground together. It’s delightful.

Judge, 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards.

Want to read more by Constance Brewer? Check out the Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction Links