Associate Professor of Writing Judith Harway’s new collection of poems, All That is Left (Turning Point Books), examines the legacies, both intended and accidental, passed down through three generations of a fictional Jewish immigrant family.
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Equal parts family saga, historical novel and lyrical meditation on the ways that historical currents shape the lives of ordinary individuals, this moving book reminds us that, in the words of Holocaust survivor Fela Warshaw, “We die as many times as we close our eyes on memory.”
Describing All That is Left, novelist Joseph Skibell writes, “All families, as Harway knows, are haunted. We’re haunted by the ghosts of ancestors who, in turn, are dreaming of us, their descendants. In this elegiac suite of poems, Harway captures the delicate threads that bind these two worlds, lost to each other. ‘All That is Left‘ is a stunning work that will pierce your heart.”
“History inevitably tangles its way into the lives of ordinary people,” said Harway. “Though, of course, I borrowed deeply from my own culture of origin in writing this book, I worked to create characters and narrative situations that would be accessible to readers of any generation or background.”
On Sunday, April 26, Harway presented a reading from All That is Left, followed by a reception and book signing, in MIAD’s Frederick Layton Gallery, surrounded by the innovative works in the MIAD 2009 Senior Exhibition.
Dana Borremans ’09 designed the book’s cover, and the author’s portrait is by Lindsay Nack ’07.
Harway is also the author of The Memory Box (2002). Her work has been published in dozens of literary magazines, and has earned fellowships from the Wisconsin Arts Board, the MacDowell Colony and the Hambidge Center.
More information about All That is Left is available at www.judithharway.com.
