prayers not meant for heaven
Cover image of Nan Seymour’s debut poetry collection prayers not meant for heaven.
“These are the prayers we most need right now—prayers for courage, accountability, awe and uncertainty. Poem prayers that link us more deeply to each other and the miraculous world we inhabit. Spare prayers as essential as bone. Through the brittle, the failed, the broken, Nan Seymour’s love of life shines through.” —Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, author of Hush and Naked for Tea
Our second book, Nan Seymour’s first poetry collection, is a must-read, must-hold, must-keep-in-your bag/car/desk/bedside table. As Maya Stein wrote in the foreword, “Nan’s poems read like tinctures, dissolving in our mouths as we read, spreading both outward and inward, infusing us with hope and humility and healing... The lines are a fingertip of touch that glaze us with a quiet depth of connection and a spirited aliveness that a more heavy-handed prayer book, lifted from oaken pews, cannot.”
Upcoming Events with Nan Seymour
Monday, September 13, 6-7pm on Zoom. Online Launch Party with poet Maya Stein for The King’s English Bookshop. If you haven't had a chance to buy the book yet, you can buy it here from a beloved independent bookseller! If you already have your copy, please sign up here to receive a link to the party.
Thursday, September 16, 7-8pm on Zoom. Confluence with the River Writing Community. Nan will read alongside eleven other River Writers at their quarterly gathering. Registration is free and required.
Monday, October 25, time to be announced. Black Box Poetry Reading in Salt Lake City.
November 2021, Date & Details TBA. Alfred Lambourne Arts Program. Free, no registration required.
“I urge you to pick up Nan Seymour’s prayers not meant for heaven, a small but mighty book that comes welcome as rain during a prolonged drought. In fact, as I made my way through this quietly stunning debut collection, I continuously had a sensation of something in me being quenched, something that I hadn’t even realized was so thirsty for the kind of nourishment only poems—and perhaps sunlight and water—can bring.” –Jena Schwartz, author, writing coach, lover of words and humanity since 1974