“Jonathan Harris’s poems are lovely and musical. This dialogue between son-poet and deceased mother-poet has the poignancy of a medieval ballad or an American song, maybe one of those Sixties songs with a refrain like “Meet You in the Falling Rain, Mama”. One also thinks of a love unrequited, Tennessee Williams and Emily Bronte, Edgar Poe or Virginia Wolfe walking into the river.”
—Joseph Millar
“No sequence of poems can matter more than this first book by Jonathan Harris in which he and his mother, who was a poet and suicide, converse through time in their respective poems. Two poets born of a shared narrative and sensibility, brought together, extend both their story and their art. A writer who faces his deepest feelings, and who has also the skill, heart and generosity of spirit and imagination for such work, Mr. Harris has compiled a book of emotional, as well as verbal, originality. The Wave That Did Not Break reminds us that writing poetry is a survival skill.”
—Marvin Bell
“Jonathan Harris is a remarkable poet, and he has allowed his imagination to construct a conversation in poetry in which we see both the brilliance and the struggles of his mother alongside the resilient yet wounded reflections of the son. As The Wave That Did Not Break weaves together Jonathan Harris’s own poems with those of his mother, herself a quite stunning poet, we discover the many ways that their voices call out and respond across time. This dialogue in poetry is at times interrogatory and sorrowful, yet it culmulates in a collection that feels supremely redemptive for both poets.
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—David St. John
Jonathan Harris received an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University and a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College. A finalist for Cutthroat’s Joy Harjo Poetry Contest, his work has appeared in many magazines and journals. Along with being head of development for the entertainment agency, Atoll Productions, he serves as a judge for the Page International Screenwriting Contest. A former Peace Corps volunteer, Jonathan lives in Los Angeles with his wife and kids.
