From the Editor: Willows Wake and Walk Away
Haley Wooning’s Willows Wake and Walk Away rises today out of the thin seam between wound & wonder, unmasking the folktales that persist beyond the body. Wooning’s sophomore collection is a dream sequence in the aftermath of trauma. As an unnamed speaker retraces her steps through mist-laced forests & crumbling childhood fairytales, she encounters ancient gods still alive in the faultlines of memory. These are poems of relapse & revelation, loneliness & liminality, asking: what happens after the haunting ends, when the serpent finally sleeps? What does it mean to carry the weight of a heart sloughing off its innumerable dead—&, in the absence of peace, learn to love a life wild, uncanny, & wholly one's own?
It was an honour to share space with writers, reviewers, & journalists across the literary web to celebrate Willows Wake and Walk Away over the virtual tour! Our favourite excerpts from this week’s interviews, reviews, & guest essays:
“Wooning’s poetry of post-traumatic self-necromancy gorgeously puppets the reader’s sensory experience. Powered with lush visuals and decadent diction, while still staying grounded with comprehensive allusions and poignant questions, this book offers both surrealist introspection and radical acceptance. One of the most powerful books of the year.” A review by Kylie Ayn Yockey
“Through the effort of trying to name the ineffable, a fragile peace emerges—not because the speaker succeeds in articulating it, but because she accepts the limits of language and continues anyway. Once the frustration softens, once the need to conquer language fades, the poem has done its work. The paradox was never meant to be solved, it was meant to be lived through.” An interview with Haley Wooning for the Half Mystic blog
“I don't think I can overstate the level of beauty that is contained within some of these poems. … I couldn’t stop reading this. It was engulfing, cresting the peaks and ceilings of what it means to be grieving a self that is never enough, until it seems we cannot anymore.” A review by Brandon
“The poetry collection is raw and dreamlike in how the author writes about trauma and recovery. It’s a beautiful, messy, tender journey.” A review & giveaway by Cal
“Trauma by nature feels like a thousand grand and sparking questions, but the one I always return to is this: what happens after we survive the unthinkable? What work follows the hero in shining armor on a great steed? The beast is bested, the bedtime story completed, and then what?” An essay by Haley Wooning for the Half Mystic blog
“Anyone who has been through traumatic experiences will relate to much of what is being depicted here. To me, this felt like a soul crying out for recognition, for hope, and for home.” A review by Angie
“I am suffering right now, but I still see the sweetness of the grass on the hill in the wind. Something horrible and life-altering and unspeakable has happened, yet the sun still rises, there is still a forest somewhere, and the heart still beats.” An interview with Haley Wooning by Liam Xavier
“A book about rediscovering your identity and reclaiming autonomy after trauma, finding mirrors to view oneself as a whole rather than crumbling parts, and working through healing to live rather than merely scrape the edges of survival. There’s purpose, strength, and submission to joy woven in the pages.” A review by Libby Jenner
After days of unearthing the voices & visions beneath this book’s creation, we’re thrilled to welcome Willows Wake and Walk Away out of the forest—now available to purchase in paperback ($15) & PDF ($7). If its echoes have stirred something in you, we invite you to carry this collection like a talisman. As it leads you through a world where healing moves with the patience of river water, may Willows Wake and Walk Away offer you a place to rest, to reckon, & to rise once more.