How to Tie Tobacco is inspired by the author's tobacco farming Southern matriarchs. From humorous tales of "almost" funerals, lost squirrels, and party lines, to trials of maternal loss, abuse, and illness, to survival instincts and resilience, this collection is a deep-rooted, tender love letter to matrilineal lineage and carrying on the wisdom of generations of formidable women.

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"This collection feels sacredly passed down, like a secret recipe or a home remedy."

- Sara Moore Wagner,

Poet and Managing Poetry Editor of Driftwood Press, Author of Lady Wing Shot, Swan Wife,

and Hillbilly Madonna

"A. M. Hayden's poetry sings like the winds rustling through the leaves of the south and in the holler...This is a love letter to multiple generations of Ma-mas."

- J. R. Simons, Publisher, Simple Simons Press

"A stunning debut chapbook...(the) author presses hands with ancestors...diving into the invisibly treacherous waters women have always been made to navigate."

- Holly Brians Ragusa, Author of Met the End, Inverse, and Tilt a World, President of Ohio Poetry Association