Join us for the launch of Giovanna MacKenna’s new poetry book How the Heart can Falter, with special guest readers Christina Thatcher and Claire Askew.

Join The Museum of Loss and Renewal Publishing* and Giovanna MacKenna in celebrating the launch of How the Heart can Falter, a new poetry collection which “leads us on a journey through shimmering light and dark water. A truly original exploration of grief, family, memory, and the power of hope.” - Claire Askew*

Giovanna MacKenna is a published and commissioned poet who can be found looking at the black bits of life and finding ways to make them shine. This book, her first full collection, is the story of the experiences that build us, of the people whose actions are the tools that carve us, of the unflinching hope of a child’s love, the constant friction of a life lived in grief, and the rescue to be found in the natural world.

“These poems raise questions about the nature of family while celebrating new growth in the form of ferns and geraniums, gardens and forests. With one eye on the past and the other on the future, this collection deftly explores loss, legacy, longing and love.” - Christina Thatcher*

Tracy Mackenna & Edwin Janssen as The Museum of Loss and Renewal Publishing are extremely proud to have designed How the Heart can Falter, through a close and rich working process with Giovanna that included a period in residence. Tracy & Edwin are passionate about designing and making publications, and about publishing: artists’ publications, publishing as part of artistic practices, and publishing as a way to share and connect with audiences.

To order your copy of the book click here.

All pre-ordered books will be signed by the author. If you would like a dedication please add a message to your order.

The cover artwork for How the Heart can Falter was created by artist Emily Fong*.

Tracy will be your host for the launch which will include readings from Giovanna, Christina and Claire as well as a visual tour of the book and an opportunity for you to comment on the work and ask questions. Please see below for the full event content.

Registered guests will receive a Zoom link prior to the event.

- Welcome and introduction from the Curators of The Museum of Loss and Renewal, artists Tracy Mackenna & Edwin Janssen

- Reading by Giovanna MacKenna

- Reading by Claire Askew

- Reading by Giovanna MacKenna

- Reading by Christina Thatcher

- Visual excerpts from How the Heart can Falter

- Reading by Giovanna MacKenna

- Questions from the audience

*The Museum of Loss and Renewal is an art project that offers space and contexts for making and sharing, nurtured by artists and curators Tracy Mackenna & Edwin Janssen. Rather than being a museum in the traditional sense that accumulates ‘stuff’, it stimulates people to take time in which to generate thoughts, feelings and ideas. The Museum of Loss and Renewal is a growing collection of experiences that are regularly shared through the activities of its curators, partners and residents. Instagram @the.museum.of.loss.and.renewal

*Claire Askew’s books include the creative writing guide Novelista (John Murray, 2020), the multi-award-winning novel All The Hidden Truths (Hodder, 2018), and the poetry collection How To Burn A Woman, recently featured on Radio 4’s Start The Week. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, and has been a Scottish Book Trust Reading Champion, a Jessie Kesson Fellow, and the University of Edinburgh’s Writer in Residence. She lives in Cumbria.

*Christina Thatcher is a Creative Writing Lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She keeps busy off campus as Poetry Editor for The Cardiff Review, a tutor for The Poetry School, a member of the Literature Wales Management Board and as a freelance workshop facilitator across the UK. Her poetry and short stories have featured in over 50 publications including Ambit, Magma, North American Review, Poetry Wales, The London Magazine and more. She has published two poetry collections with Parthian Books: More than you were (2017) and How to Carry Fire (2020). Twitter @writetoempower

*Emily Fong is an artist exploring life and death, embodiment and emotion; the experience of existing in a human container. Her artistic practice is underpinned by the observation and communication of the life cycles of living things; growth, mortality and change from the micro to the macro. Through the mediums of drawing, painting, sculpture and writing, she seeks to highlight our similarities not only to one another but also to other species that occupy this planet. Instagram @emilyfongstudio

Giovanna MacKenna, Claire Askew and Christina Thatcher