JONAH’S MAP OF THE WHALE AND OTHER POEMS / Anthony Doyle

FIND Jonah’s Map of the World and Other Poems

Cover of 'A Witch Awakens' by Ellis Elliott, featuring mystical elements and an intriguing design.

Book cover of 'A Witch Awakens' by Ellis Elliott featuring a mystical and witchy design.

Book cover of 'A Witch Awakens' by Ellis Elliott featuring mystical elements and an intriguing design.

A book cover illustration featuring a whale in a dramatic ocean scene, symbolizing the themes of exploration and introspection.

“A wonderfully inspiring read…packed with intriguing associations and insights that blends free verse and rhyme to create unexpected interplay between imagination, thought, and philosophical perspective.”
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

Dive into the mythic in Jonah’s Map of the Whale and Other Poems, a daring and dazzling collection from Anthony Doyle (author of Hibernaculum). In the submerged world of Flounder— part everyman, part flatfish—shipwrecked longing, philosophical wit, and lyrical precision converge.

Doyle’s sea-born metaphors shimmer with heartbreak, absurdity, and revelation across the tide pools of memory and myth. From underwater boathouses to data-streamed cubicles, Doyle threads ancient voices through postmodern pulses. Featuring Flounder, Blundra, Alex Iden Gray, and more, this collection drifts between high poetry and sly humor, from trenches of despair to flickers of grace. Jonah’s Map of the Whale and Other Poems is a poetic deep-sea dive into the soul accessible to poetry and literature fans alike.

Back cover of the book 'Jonah's Map of the Whale and Other Poems' featuring a dark, abstract watercolor design with a luminous circle representing the moon.

FACTs OF Note:

Anthony Doyle also did the illustrations, cover and interior, for this book.

Jonah’s Map of the World and Other Poems hits #1 on Amazon:

Book cover for 'Jonah's Map of the Whale and Other Poems' by Anthony Doyle, featuring an illustrated whale and a figure in a sea setting, with title and author prominently displayed.

Reviews:

Emma Lee’s Blog

Jonah’s Map of the Whale is an exploration of self, self-identity and how much personhood is formed by external circumstances, through three different characters. One is pushed along by external pressure and lacks agency. One has agency but fears she carries a hollowness. One is faced by a life-changing experience that he can sink or swim from. Each character feels fully-developed. Anthony Doyle has created a quirky look at a set of beings tackling very different philosophical and physical circumstances, prompting readings to consider who might survive, who might thrive and which one reflects the reader best. It’s a map worth reading.

See Emma Lee’s full review for more!

Cover image of 'Jonah's Map of the Whale and Other Poems' by Anthony Doyle featuring a stylized illustration of Jonah and a whale.

Gabby Gilliam, author of NO OCEAN SPIT ME OUT

In many of these poems, Doyle gives the reader a profound sense of place with clever word choices and descriptions. Doyle’s illustrations in the latter part of the collection were an unexpected asset to the collection. They pair really well with the poems. An exploration of universal themes with a nautical bent, I truly enjoyed this collection.