And She Wasn’t Damaged

Poems for Speaker and Chorus

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 03 Nov 2022 | Archive Date 24 Apr 2023
Vardi Books | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles

Talking about this book? Use #AndSheWasntDamaged #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

Presented both in English and the original Hebrew, And She Wasn’t Damaged is Hagit Vardi’s portrayal of the process of awakening to childhood scenes of molestation by her father. The poems reveal the internal voices Hagit discovers on the journey: the damaged baby who retreats from the world; the vengeful sixteen-year-old who uses writing as a weapon; the self-doubting woman who demands proof; and the angry chorus who refuse to make peace. The journey continues in the voice of a woman who gradually accepts her vulnerabilities. In an epilogue consisting of selected poems from Vardi’s fourth book, The Sea Is Your Witness, we meet the mature woman, at last able to welcome her ghosts, put the blame where it belongs, and move forward with hope and trust.

This collection gives us a glimpse into the emotional and physical world of those who survive sexual abuse—the self-doubt, self-blame, anger, shame, and despair that arise from the struggle between the need to know and the fear of knowing. While these poems serve as a voice for survivors, they also enlighten us about the intense and lasting effects of abuse, and have deservedly drawn the attention of Israeli mental health professionals and assistance centers for victims of sexual abuse. The English translation was created in collaboration with Daphna Ben Yosef.

Hagit Vardi trained as a flutist and later in the healing arts as a Feldenkrais practitioner. For the past twenty years Hagit has been helping people as a Feldenkrais practitioner (including at the University of Wisconsin Integrative Health program) and has been teaching Feldenkrais for Musicians courses and workshops with her husband, Uri Vardi.

In her sixties Vardi started writing poetry as part of her healing process. She has published five books of poetry in Hebrew with Pardes Publishing. Her poems were published in newspapers, literary magazines and on the radio, and attract attention among mental health professionals and the centers of assistance for victims of sexual abuse.

Hagit Vardi trained as a flutist and later in the healing arts as a Feldenkrais practitioner. For the past twenty years Hagit has been helping people as a Feldenkrais practitioner (including at the University of Wisconsin Integrative Health program) and has been teaching Feldenkrais for Musicians courses and workshops with her husband, Uri Vardi.

In her sixties Vardi started writing poetry as part of her healing process. She has published five books of poetry in Hebrew with Pardes Publishing. Her poems were published in newspapers, literary magazines and on the radio, and attract attention among mental health professionals and the centers of assistance for victims of sexual abuse.

Translator and content writer Daphna Ben Yosef (1962 - 2021) had a deep passion towards both Hebrew and English. Ben Yosef earned her degrees in both Theater and Language Interpretation and Translation from Tel Aviv University in Israel. Her translations include The 29% Solution by Ivan R. Misner and Michelle R. Donovan, The Biology of Belief by Bruce H. Lipton, and Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers.

Presented both in English and the original Hebrew, And She Wasn’t Damaged is Hagit Vardi’s portrayal of the process of awakening to childhood scenes of molestation by her father. The poems reveal the...


A Note From the Publisher

Contributors: Daphna Ben Yosef

epub ISBN: 979-8-9863255-1-4

Contributors: Daphna Ben Yosef

epub ISBN: 979-8-9863255-1-4


Advance Praise

“Hagit Vardi’s poetic journey through the nightmare of childhood sexual abuse is a moving testament to the deep power of art to heal and give life. The poetry is startling and gorgeous. An unforgettable experience.”
—Susan Sweeney, professor emerita of theater, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“In spare images, with no extraneous words in either English or Hebrew, Hagit tells the story of her betrayal by one who should most be trusted. She uses her voice to declaim the hurt, and refusal to stay damaged. To tell her truth, she has shared it with us as revelation for all survivors; that we carry the shame of the abuse that truly belongs only to the abuser, for as long as it is kept secret. Told in words unminced, yet beautiful, we can share her determination to heal, to reject any pretense or false images to excuse abusers’ actions. As a therapist and survivor, I value the courage Hagit radiates. She rejected denial, didn’t pretend to forgive, and so became strong. And now she helps others to heal.”
—Cynthia Wall, author of The Courage to Trust

“‘...heart strain, feet/Breathing, vomiting, calves/Shuddering, hallucinations, thighs,’ Hagit Vardi’s poetry about childhood sexual abuse by her father is unique and strong. Written in the beautiful script of Hebrew we find ourselves in dream and nightmare translated to English. In Chorus, Single Chorus Member, and Speaker, we recognize our own conflicting inner Voices. In the antithetical meaning of the title, from deep soul devastation to self and soul salvation, ‘from the depth of my wound/I drew will and power’, we come away from And She Wasn’t Damaged enlightened, in triumph.
—Sharon Doubiago, awarded The Oregon Book Award, author of Naked to the Earth (poetry), My Father’s Love (memoir)

“Vardi’s voice reverberates with passion, pain, indignation, and truth; it cuts deep into fellow wounded souls but only to exorcise the demons of distress and, as she so aptly puts it, obscenity. Her journey can only be traveled by the brave, the defiant, the determined survivor who refuses to be silenced. She dares to speak the unspeakable and put her raw emotion on display as only those who survive the death of their dignity and resurrection of their very soul dare to do. I will take my time with this amazing work of art, healing and compassion.”
— Linda Settles Zeboskey, author of Redeeming Our Treasures: Finding Joy in the Shadows of an Abusive Past

“Hagit Vardi creates multifaceted, challenging poetry. Not every poet has the courage to dive deep into such a painful place, but her every poem is a diamond filled with a deep sense of awareness, sorrow, sensitivity, and humility toward the self and the world.”
—Yakir Ben Moshe, poet, and editor of Velo Haya Bah Mum

“This courageous book is a most moving work in its frankness. The reader cannot remain indifferent to the power of Hagit’s words. Her poems arouse anger, pain, sadness, insult, outrage, betrayal, hope, and awakening. There is an acceptance and an enormous embrace of the wounded soul alongside a powerful therapeutic force. These poems are inspirational—a clarion call to those silent women who have not yet found their voice or their power to emerge from darkness to light.”
—Ronit Goltzman, music and movement therapist

“Hagit gives an articulate voice to the little girl she once was and the pain of the sexual assault she suffered. The poems clarify for the reader the immense damage that sexual abuse of children causes the body, the identity, and the very depth of the soul. She uses words like a painter to share the abused girl’s helpless suffering that rises to her consciousness years later.”
—Liora Zomer, MA, psychotherapist, art therapist, sexual assault therapist

“Hagit’s central theme focuses on a sharp pain that is lodged like a thorn in the living flesh. The frequent transitions between narrator and choir paint a dramatic, alert, and vigorous portrait. The poems possess a searing power that is both polished and mature”
— Yair Mazor, Professor Emeritus, former head of New and Biblical Hebrew Literature, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

“Hagit Vardi’s poetic journey through the nightmare of childhood sexual abuse is a moving testament to the deep power of art to heal and give life. The poetry is startling and gorgeous. An...


Marketing Plan

Advance Review/endorsement Outreach

Ingram iPage ad

Bookstore Outreach

Blogger Outreach

IBPA bookstore catalog mailing (electronic)

IBPA Public Library Fiction eblast

Book award submissions

Amazon Author Central Page

Promotion to mental health professionals and the centers of assistance for victims of sexual abuse.

Advance Review/endorsement Outreach

Ingram iPage ad

Bookstore Outreach

Blogger Outreach

IBPA bookstore catalog mailing (electronic)

IBPA Public Library Fiction eblast

Book award submissions

Amazon Author...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9798986325507
PRICE $12.95 (USD)
PAGES 118

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Download (EPUB)

Average rating from 1 member