These poems tell a story. They tell the story of Susan 'no name' Atkins and the dark spiral that led to the eventual famous murders we all know about.

Murder plots. Drugs. A cult forming in the shadows of Hollywood. At the center of it all, Charles Manson and his devoted followers. No Name Atkins gives voice to the Manson family's most notorious member, chronicling in verse her decent into violence. 

How does someone like Susan Atkins become a killer? These poems unfurl the bizarre, hallucinatory, and terrifying moments that led to one of America's most reviled stories of devotion and death. 

PRAISE FOR NO NAME ATKINS

“These poems are shaded in violence and manipulation—but that’s what it takes to understand the dynamics of the Manson family. The power of Schwarz’s craft is that it slows down, as if sculpting from granite, while also showing a capacious flex of rhythms and ambitions. There’s a brightness of approach here, even within the terrible dark of events at hand.”

—Sandra Beasley, author of Count the Waves

“As if we are following the Manson family against our will, No Name Atkins is equally dangerous and mystical. Schwarz’s deft hand paints these vignettes in masterful, touching, and vivid ways, utilizing language and metaphor to describe what only a few eyes could see. We witness a resurrection of a story that has long fallen out of the public eye.”

—Josh Dale, writer and publisher at Thirty West Publishing House

“Schwarz has multi-faceted camera of a voice, doing fearless close ups but having the craft to back away when needed to take in the true horror of how Charles Manson dehumanized those in his cult.”

—Christoph Paul, author of Horror Film Poems & At Least I Get You < In My Art

50% of Author’s Royalties will go to the ACLU’s National Prison Project

During my research of her life, it became increasingly clear that Susan's time and mistreatment in prison has been largely left out the media's coverage of her life . I have decided to donate 50% of my royalties to the ACLU's National Prison Project, an important arm of the ACLU that fights for the liberties and safety of all incarcerated peoples. I hope that even this small step will help the ACLU fight for the rights and safeties that Susan was not afforded during her time in prison.

— Jerrod Schwarz

ISBN: 9781944866709