Depression of the Zillenium

by Elle Verde

Elle Verde shares her experiences from 2019 to 2022 in her new poetry collection, Depression of the Zillenium. Each section of the book explores a unique year of circumstance and challenges: dealing with her depression, having a job deemed as an “essential worker,” coping with death in her family, violence in the news, questioning her faith, and, of course, living through and beyond the COVID pandemic. And while there are glimmers of hope, amid her people-watching and doom-scrolling, Elle tries to beautify the world around her with her words.

Early Praise for Depression of the Zillenium:

“… [T]his felt like reconnecting to an old friend while reading it—bonding through nostalgia, heartache, loneliness, and beauty. There were times where [she] captured my breath with a single line and made me sit and stare at the words [she] crafted together like crocheted mittens. Through [her] poetry people can be reminded of the complexity of the human experience- whether it be being a lonely child and watching parents grow older, dependence on seeing regular strangers at bus stops, and the exhaustion of being in community with shallow people.”

—Allison Couch, English teacher and Speech & Debate Coach

“[Elle Verde] writes poems close to poetry’s bone: in and of the body, the family, the observable world that both holds us and harms us. Torn between tenderness and torment, these poems rightly see us as a molecule of copper / set over fire.”

 —Todd Robinson, author of Mass for Shut-Ins

About the Author

Elle Verde (also known as Danielle Valverde) is an alumnus from the University of Nebraska in Omaha Creative Writing program, currently parsing life as a young adult in a post-pandemic world. She has had poems published in Plainsongs, 13th Floor Magazine, Scribe: Lincoln High School Literary Magazine, and Talented: 2012 Poetry Collection.

In this chapbook, Elle examines her experiences and relationships from living as a young adult before, through, and after the pandemic, specifically focusing on family, church, and herself. In the midst of her cynicisms, she finds moments of beauty and nostalgia in the mundane. Elle currently lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. In her spare time, she likes to crochet, draw, and paint.

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