After designing the cover for the first edition of Florida Man: Poems by Tyler Gillespie, I was invited back to create a new cover for the second edition, Florida Man: Poems, Revisited. Tyler wanted to incorporate my signature collage style, using imagery and colors that captured Florida's unique blend of quirky charm and untamed wilderness. As a Florida Man myself, I really enjoyed capturing the essence of my home state in this design for Burrow Press.

About Florida Man: Poems, Revisited, via Burrow Press: The Florida Man meme lodged itself into the national consciousness through viral headlines like “Florida man threw live gator in Wendy’s drive-thru window.” But there’s much more to the meme than a punchline. In this innovative collection, Tyler Gillespie strips away the accepted myths of his home state and its inhabitants in poems centered on Florida’s history and culture. He uses a lyric mix of journalism, science, family lore, and lived experience to reveal complex realities of the state and a redemption that’s wondrously messy and surprising.

Since the collection’s initial publication in 2018, Florida has become even more chaotic and unsafe. In this time, too, Gillespie emerged as one of the state’s rising literary voices for his wit and style. This second edition revisits the original collection and extends its themes with 20 new poems that form the chapbook-length addition HEAT ADVISORY.

Published by Burrow Press, 2024. Paperback, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 128 pages. Design & photographs by Michael Burk.