Her Birth

Overview

A poem sequence that is spare, tender, and haunting, this book navigates the difficult territory of grief and loss. Poet Rebecca Goss’s newborn daughter Ella was diagnosed with severe Ebstein’s Anomaly, a rare and incurable heart condition, and lived for only 16 months. This collection of moving, deeply thoughtful poems brings Goss’s professional and personal experiences to bear, beginning with Ella’s birth, her short life, and her death, and ending with the joys and complexities that come with the birth of another child.

Reviews

“The poems in Her Birth unfold their story of love, loss and grief for a baby daughter with pared-down precision and scorching intensity.”  —Helen Dunmore, author, The Siege

Author Biography

Rebecca Goss is a poet and the author of the collection, The Anatomy of Structures, and the recipient of an Authors' Foundation Grant from the Society of Authors in 2011. She is a former creative writing teacher at Liverpool John Moores University.