Books

“Heather Sullivan’s Waiting for an Answer is a breath of fresh air, a debut collection by a poet who has actually lived long enough to have something to say. This book builds slowly, offering a glimpse into childhood memories grown into intricate flaws. The beauty here is found in every imperfection along the way. Like any good alley cat Sullivan has more than one life to live and let’s hope she’s just getting started. We’re all just waiting for an answer that may never come, peeling away the layers of every passing year,  but at least now we have someone there to wait with us.”

--John Dorsey, Author of Shoot the Messenger    

In Sullivan’s debut collection, she searches the past, present and future for an answer to an unknown question, seemingly stumbling upon astute observations in the day-to-day. Whether age nine at the circus “scanning the auditorium for the exits,” or an adult watching her “kidneys function on the monitor over [her] head,” Sullivan encourages refection, almost asking the reader to look back and examine how their own journey brought them to the here and now. The last line of the last poem, “one day I’ll, one day I’ll, one day I’ll,” reinforces the endless search and leaves us wanting more!

--Rebecca Schumejda, author of Waiting at the Dead End Diner

Heather Sullivan's book Waiting For An Answer is a collection of poems about an ordinary America as seen through extraordinary eyes.  In the lively collection, the 55 poems are separate entities, but they flow together like a story, linked by Sullivan's sometimes quirky and sometimes intense perspective. From "Stage Left," a poem about a girl's first visit to a circus, where she keeps "scanning the auditorium for exits" because she feared being crushed to death by a crowd, to "Sweet Potato," Sullivan's poem about her red-headed son, the poetry is consistently fresh and engaging. As all good poetry books should,  Waiting For An Answer  speaks to our pasts and reminds us that we have a future.

--Michael Hathaway, editor, Chiron Review