The Florida Man meme is formidable, with countless pages on Twitter and Instagram dedicated to its many shades and shapes, like “Florida man threw live gator in Wendy’s drive-thru.” In “Florida Man: Poems Revisited”, writer Tyler Gillespie debones the myths about his home state using poetry and finds a portal into Sunshine State history, journalism, science, culture, and the messy reality and unreality that is Florida and its man. Initially released in 2018, Gillespie re-released the collection on Burrow Press this year, with the second edition featuring 20 new poems, aka the chapbook-length addition dubbed “HEAT ADVISORY.” Why do we love it? Florida writer, writing Florida lore, published by a great Florida press. tylergillespie.com—Arielle Stevenson
This article appears in Best of The Bay 2024.
