Not Every Woman Swooned

In Not Every Woman Swooned, Heveron reminds us that this being human is a gift, and that every act, every breath, every seemingly benign occasion is somehow sacred. With characteristic humor and humility, she gently guides us through a world made new by her love for it. Ordinary events are distilled into something significant and memorable by her always refreshing way of seeing and naming things: a spilled jar of honey rolls across a floor in a diner like sticky graffiti; after signing a book for a former lover she confesses I wish I'd written something obscure...Something like: 'Thanks for the blackberry tea.' This book is a song of praise for the world around us. Heveron writes down the world with gratitude, and as she says in "Moutin Reunion," somehow you got to go along.

Lisa Starr, Rhode Island Poet Laureate

Elaine Heveron's poems are so winning and persuasive that as you read them you feel like the character in one of her poems who is won over by music that has the appeal of a favorite / cousin on his way to the / beach / and somehow / you / got to go along. She captures the feeling of being simultaneously / both hungry and satisfied, and her heart remains open both to life's joys and to the homeless sleeping on our freezing streets in the winter. This book is filled with a rare generosity of spirit.

Richard Tillinghast, Selected Poems, 2009, The New Life, 2008

Elaine Heveron's latest collection of poems is refreshingly honest and has a complex simplicity that feels so in the moment. You joyfully travel with her as she captures her observations with a very jazz-like stream of consciousness. You will find me in my favorite chair with this delightful book again and again.

Nancy Kelly, Jazz Singer

Elaine is a terrific writer with the rare ability to capture mood and evoke feelings in a vivid manner. For over 30 years I've had the pleasure of enjoying her work and watching it grow. I find myself returning to her poetry often when I feel an urge for renewal.

Steve O'Brien,

WCBS-FM, New York City