The Wild Edge of The Heart: Women Poets Raise Their Voices

Editor Susan Lambert · Francesca Bell · Michelle Bitting · Joshua Jennifer Espinoza · Alexis Rhone Fancher · Rachel Eliza Griffiths · Tanya Ko Hong · Armine Iknadossian · Sue Ellen Kuzma · Danusha Lameris · Kitty O’Meara · Mirabai Starr · Nancy Lynée Woo

Apr 2024 · Susan Lambert · Narrated by Susan Lambert

About this audiobook

Poetry has always provided comfort, inspiration, and connection, especially during socially precarious and politically divisive times. That has never been truer than it is today. The Wild Edge of the Heart: Women Poets Raise Their Voices presents the work of some of our leading contemporary female poets who are lauded for their ferocity, sensitivity and eloquence.

With a foreword by iconic theater artist Anne Bogart, this diverse and distinct array of voices includes Francesca Bell, Michelle Bitting, Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Alexis Rhone Fancher, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Tanya Ko Hong, Armine Iknadossian, Sue Ellen Kuzma, Danusha Lameris, Kitty O’Meara, Mirabai Starr and Nancy Lynée Woo. Uniting these award-winning poets is the daring of their expression: they are fearless, unapologetically outspoken and insistent on being heard.

The poems chosen for this collection depict personal narratives, outcries, revelations, tender fleeting moments, declarations of sovereignty, and the mythic imagination: from a stark, visceral portrayal of the Black body’s agonizing experience of terror, trauma and loss, to the intensely erotic on display, to grieving the intimacy of touch in the height of pandemic-isolation, and the longing for ecstasy even in the darkest of times. The poems invite us into multi-sensory worlds in which Joan of Arc speaks to the sea, a father struggles to see his young transgender daughter for who she is, and a mother communes with her deceased child to grant and seek forgiveness.

By shining a light on our shared human experience, The Wild Edge of The Heart: Women Poets Raise Their Voices reminds us of our innate beauty and interconnectedness.

Proceeds will be donated to the NIRH to support women’s reproductive health.

Produced by Susan Lambert & Walker Vreeland.

Ratings and reviews

"Wild Edge of the Heart" explores facets of female experience over the spectrum and through time. The diverse poems tell stories, reflect many emotional hues, and, most importantly, flow smoothly. Susan Lambert interprets the voices of a dozen poets so artfully that I had to remind myself I was listening to only one narrator. This is a gem of a literary and audio experience.

The collection takes the listener from joy to despair, from laughter to tears, and all through hearing the many and diverse voices behind the words. It takes listeners dramatically into experiences that may not be their own but with which they can wholly empathize, and reminds everyone of the connections that unite us. Proceeds from the audiobook support women’s reproductive health, so buy it to help the cause… and to ease—and challenge—your own heart.

“A brilliant zodiac of expression and emotion, elegantly edited and interpreted by the gifted Susan Lambert. Enjoy its sonic riches as you absorb the wisdom of these powerful poets.” Irene O’Garden Off Broadway playwright, author and poet.