Description
Finding Her
by Kristie L. Williams
$14.99, paper
978-1-64662-936-7
2022
Kristie L. Williams’ debut chapbook Finding Her is a carefully curated collection. Her poems seek the center of self, ask the hard questions, and listen for the many answers that arise with life lessons. Each of these lessons explore a unique strength found in what it means to be feminine. As each page turns, these poems are friends you’d tell your secrets to and whose advice you’d actually take.
Kristie L. Williams – received a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from Saint Andrews Presbyterian College and a MAEd. in Adult Education at East Carolina University.
Her Forthcoming chapbook titled Finding Her will be published by Finishing Line Press later this year.
She has been previously published by Main Street Rag, Dan River Review, Cairn, Maximum Tilt Solstice Anthology and Madness Muse Press and Hermit Feathers Review and Heron Clan 8.
When she’s not playing with words, she is using her own story of quadriplegia and cerebral palsy to advocate for herself and others with disabilities, participating in adaptive recreation, creating mixed media art, reading great books, and going to rock concerts.
Giulio Magrini (verified owner) –
This review is based on my anticipation of receiving Finding Her August 19, 2022. I had the pleasure of participating in Cultivating Voices Live ZOOM Meeting, which previewed Finding Her via a brilliant performance by Kristie L. Williams
Lenora Good –
This review is also on Amazon.com
The poems in this book are, simply, amazing. The first poem, One Minute, is a poem of grief, of loss, of acceptance. I think it helps in reading her poems to note she is writing her story of quadriplegia and cerebral palsy. Her poems are not whines of ‘oh, woe is me’ they are frank looks at herself from where she started to where she is. The final lines of her poem, One Minute, says it all, “Before Quietly Stepping Into / Who I Am Now.” She is not a victim; she is a victor.
A few of her poems are as short as 3 lines, such as A Refracted Moment, “I watch my mother cry / desperate to reshape the asymmetrical daisy / swimming in her box of tears” and some are long as two pages. Most are one page.
All her poems have a line that will resonate. At least they did with me. Such as the second stanza of Portrait of a Magpie, “She is not misfortune; contrarily, she has soured / Soaking in wine and seasoned with antidepressants—”
However, for me, the piece de resistance of the book culminates in the third to last poem, Watching You Undress Me (A Love Letter to Body Image). It’s a love letter to body image, it’s a love letter to self, it’s a love letter to her lover. It is a beautiful poem to the beauty of being human, of acceptance, of, simply, being alive.
The last poem is a short one, and closes this book quietly, with many thoughts about living life to the fullest. A Diggers Lot, “Sitting alone / at time’s end—”
I’m not the only one who liked Watching You Undress Me—it was nominated for a Puschcart! Buy this book.
caren stuart (verified owner) –
Finding Her, Kristie L. Williams’ stunning first collection of poetry, is a book I keep returning to. Don’t let the brevity of some of these poems mislead you… these works are deep! These poems are excavations into the heartfelt. They dig into pain and mourning for truths and meaning and they come up with discoveries of comfort and hope. And yes, there is joy here too. I’m reading these poems again and again and finding so many layers of story and meaning! I make new discoveries with every re-reading. This book is a journey with many paths to follow and love IS here… growing.