half woman half grief
“I’m not here to sugar-coat grief. I’m here to be transformed by it.”
This powerfully vulnerable book invites us to grieve. Having lost my mother at the age of nine, I spent my life navigating my way through the myriad of emotions which surround death. In my debut collection of poetry, I map my journey into the mysterious underworld of grief and the extraordinary lessons I learned in the darkness.
Coming to life with the skills of illustrator Ellie Coates and the book designer Domini McMunn, this book was years in the making and a labour of handcrafted devotion and love. From the years of unexpressed love and grief that were poured into the poetry, to converting the motifs and images from my psyche to Ellie’s beautiful images, to laying out the poems carefully on each page to aide the book’s underworld journey with Domini, right down to using my own handwriting throughout the book.
*First two images by Tasha Park Photography.
“This book is at once personal and universal”
“I called it a transformative odyssey before, and this felt like the most accurate way to describe my experience of the book. One literally traverses through loss, the deep and dark places one can suddenly find themselves in as a result, and through all that to a place of hope that tomorrow will be a better day. Even if for a moment.
The book doesn’t just deal with the loss of a loved one either. It is more expansive than that. There are themes that touch on the loss of a sense of self, a loss of culture and the grief that comes with that. And, how much more powerful all that is when a loved one is tied so deeply to both. This book is at once personal and universal, especially for those who might have found themselves wrestling with similar issues, myself included.
I urge anyone who is curious to support a wonderful indie author/poet and pick this book up. Maya is full of insight and possesses a soul rich with a great deal of hard-won wisdom, and a heart of deep love. All of this comes through in the book. Whether you like poetry or not, I think you’ll find something worthwhile in it.”
Steven Armstrong, author of Dragon Daughter
