Today, on November 10th, 2026, Pulley Press is excited to announce the release of Swimming Alone by Lyndsey Kelly Weiner.
Lyndsey Kelly Weiner’s Swimming Alone is the story of a single mother-turned-documentarian. A journey through her son’s life as much as her own, Weiner pieces together moments both significant and mundane, including a dissolving marriage, the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the reproductive cycles of the frogs behind her house.
This collection is not only a personal history with notes in the margins, tracing the changing social, political, and physical form of rural America; it is also a reflection on quiet moments that are often lost in the rush of living.
Tara Betts, author of Refuse to Disappear and Break the Habit, calls Swimming Alone a “taut debut” in which “Lyndsey Kelly Weiner explores motherhood with her maturing son and the tasks of rural life. But,” she continues, “the tension embedded in these poems is palpable, and at times searing. Swimming Alone reminds us which troubles immerse us in this moment.”
Lyndsey, when asked what she hopes readers will gather from her debut collection, said, “I hope that readers will want to go out and observe their surroundings, natural and manmade. Even when we disagree about some things, we can find common ground with our neighbors when we start by listening to each other about what we all appreciate about the places we live.”
Links to purchase Swimming Alone online can be found here, or find it at your favorite local bookstore.
About the Poet:
Lyndsey Kelly Weiner lives in an 861 square-foot log cabin on 60 acres surrounded by 1,500 acres of state land with her son, her dog, her cats and her chickens. She likes to swim and run every day, outside if possible, even in winter. Lyndsey teaches writing at Syracuse University, is a Licensed Massage Therapist, a lifeguard, a Hospice Volunteer and a weekly sourdough baker. Her work explores the intersection of parenting, politics, rural life and nature.
