Hemming the Water

by Yona Harvey

Channeling the collection's muse, jazz composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams, Hemming the Water speaks to the futility of trying to mend or straighten a life that is constantly changing. Here the spiritual and the secular comingle in a "Fierce fragmentation, lonely tune." Harvey inhabits, challenges, and explores the many facets of the female self--as daughter, mother, sister, wife, and artist. Every page is rich with Harvey's rapturous music.

Genres: Poetry, African American

72 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2013

About the author

Yona Harvey is the author of the poetry collection, Hemming the Water, winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award from Claremont Graduate University and finalist for the Hurston-Wright Award. Her work has been anthologized in many publications including A Poet’s Craft: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Sharing Your Poetry and The Force of What’s Possible: Accessibility and the Avant-Garde. She has received an Individual Artist grant in nonfiction from The Pittsburgh Foundation and participated in workshops and residencies at the inaugural Cave Canem retreat and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
She is an assistant professor in the Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Reviews

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willow Weep For Me by Mary Lou Williams


This book went under-the-radar for me when it came out in 2014, but I became well acquainted with the writer Yona Harvey through her work in comics, particularly Black Panther And The Crew: We Are The Streets--my favorite graphic novel/trade paperback. So I had to find more works by her, and I came across Harvey's first collected work.

This is not a long book, and I am grateful. This is a very to the point collection that gives us some great poetry concerning womanhood, blackness, motherhood...and the pianist Mary Lou Williams. Style-wise, this book reminded me of the Black Arts Movement, especially of Nikki Giovanni, but the content is very autobiographical, the poet looking inward. This serves the purpose of us enjoying the art and understanding the person who wrote it, while setting us up for future projects.

Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy (feat. Mary Lou Williams on piano) - Mary's Idea

It seems Ms. Harvey is busy with comic book writing for the moment, but hopefully we get more from her on the poetry front one day. This was a very good, to-the-point collection and I hope more folks read it. My favorite poems from this book are Chatterblue; Thumbelina, I Wrote a Song About You; Neruda; Brillance; and In Toni Morrison's Head.

Baby Dear by Mary Lou Williams & Her Kansas City Seven

[Izetta Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully rendered poetry that captures quiet moments of joy, grief, and contemplation. Harvey weaves language expertly - and her poems inspired me. From her first lines, I was hooked. If poetry is intended to help us create images in our minds, Harvey is a talented illustrator.

[Liberty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely and accessible

[Gemma Mahadeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stalled finishing this because I just didn’t want it to end.

[Andre · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely fantastic collection. I can't wait to be able to teach some of these poems in my next poetry class.

[Literary Mama]

Yona Harvey’s debut poetry collection, Hemming the Water, illuminates generational strength in family—how the body carries not only the physical but the emotional weight of the past and its attached memory. Women’s objects, such as girdles, sewing machines, and kitchen tools, continuously evoke these memories, reminding me of my own family’s valued objects. My grandmother’s porcelain clock. The curio and framed daguerreotypes of almost-forgotten ancestors. In sonic words that hum a mother’s song, Harvey leads the reader through poems that break traditional lyric and scatter across the page.

Read Literary Mama's full review here: http://www.literarymama.com/reviews/a...

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful. every word seems like it's in the right place - very tightly gone over and revised (is my guess. but I'm open to the idea that Harvey is just a word genius/magician). the ones where she gets angry "Chatterblue" and "Turquoise" among them, are delicious. Themes of color, sounds, and Thumbelina run through here. A must read-again.

[Maura Alia Badji · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new favorite. Finding a new favorite writer and/or book is a little like falling in love, but without the inevitable chance of that feeling changing. Music and art and love and annoyance and pain and truth whirl through these pages transformed by her gifted alchemy. I impatiently await Yona Harvey's next book.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautiful forthcoming collection from Four Way Books—highly recommend this!

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

great imagery & language.

[hh · Rating 4 out of 5]

impressive range

[Carolyn O · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars