Poet and Playwright Sheila Duane Publishes Powerful Chapbook Honoring Gilgo Beach Victims

Award-winning playwright and Brookdale Community College writing teacher Sheila Duane has released a deeply personal and timely new poetry chapbook, Beach Bones, published by Bottlecap Press. The 28-page collection is dedicated to the victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killings and serves as a poignant tribute to lives lost and too often dehumanized in public discourse.

In Beach Bones, Duane confronts the way media narratives frequently emphasize the victims’ involvement in sex work, overshadowing their humanity and the systemic issues that may have led to their vulnerability. Through verse, she challenges readers to consider broader questions of poverty, addiction, marginalization, and dignity.

“These women did not deserve to be reduced to a label,” Duane writes in the chapbook’s introduction. “The language we use matters—each of these people was a human being who had a right to live.”

Duane, whose plays Extrajudicial and Restoration Parts placed in the Downtown Urban Arts Festival in NYC, is known for confronting injustice through creative expression. Her academic work on experimental playwriting is published in Waxing and Waning, further showcasing her range as both a literary artist and educator.

Beach Bones is now available through Bottlecap Press and adds to Duane’s growing body of socially conscious, emotionally resonant work.