Musing About the Muse: Girl, Drowning by Dana Knott

Yellow Arrow Publishing announces the release of our second chapbook of 2026, Girl, Drowning by Dana Knott. Since its establishment in 2016, Yellow Arrow has devoted its efforts to advocate for all women writers through inclusion in the biannual Yellow Arrow Journal as well as single-author publications and Yellow Arrow Vignette, and by providing strong author support, writing workshops, and volunteering opportunities. We at Yellow Arrow are excited to continue our mission by supporting Knott in all her writing and publishing endeavors.

The poems within Girl, Drowning by Dana Knott (she/her) were inspired by Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal (1829–1862), a pre-Raphaelite model, muse, poet, and artist. Much attention rests on Siddal’s fame as the model for John Everett Millais’ Ophelia (1851–1852), her laudanum addiction, and the exhumation of her corpse years after her death, so that her husband, artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, could retrieve a poetry manuscript he placed in her coffin. Girl, Drowning intends to amplify Siddal’s voice and fill in other, rich details of her life, including her aspirations as a poet and artist and her desire for autonomy. Beneath the surface lies a woman who longed to be seen and loved as Siddal, the individual, rather than model, muse, and wife.

Knott, born in Chicago, Illinois, and residing in Delaware, Ohio, works in Columbus as Director of Libraries at the Columbus State Library. She launched tiny wren lit, which publishes micropoetry online with downloadable zines for each issue, in 2021 and published the microchapbook Funeral Flowers (Rinky Dink Press) in 2024.

The cover was created by Alexa Laharty, and the interior images were drawn by Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal. According to Knott,

“The contrast between how he saw her and how she saw herself always strikes me. That’s why I love Alexa [Laharty]’s cover art. It feels in-between. Not the hyper-idealized muse, but not only the severe self-portrait either. There’s strength, pride, and containment. The blue tones echo water, but without recreating Millais’ Ophelia. She isn’t floating. She’s upright and looking outward. Not at us, but beyond us. Separate. Self-possessed. I think Laharty captured that balance beautifully, and I completely fell in love with it. It’s powerful to have a woman artist depict Siddal in this way. Laharty also selected some of Siddal’s drawings to include in the book, which is incredible. Readers can see what Siddal was trying to achieve in her own art, and that addition means so much.”

Paperback and PDF versions of Girl, Drowning are now available from the Yellow Arrow bookstore. If interested in purchasing more than one paperback copy for friends and family, check out our discounted wholesale prices here. You can also search for Girl, Drowning wherever you purchase your books including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. To learn more about Knott and Girl, Drowning, check out our recent interview with her.

You can find Knott on Facebook @dana.a.knott and Instagram @danerbird and connect with Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram, to share some love for this chapbook. You can also share a review to any of the major distributors or by emailing editor@yellowarrowpublishing.com. We’d love to hear from you.

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‍Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women-identifying writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we LUMINATE a path for women-identifying creatives this year by purchasing one of our publications or a workshop from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, for yourself or as a gift, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribing to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.