Quiver

by Maya Workowski

Maya Workowski attempts to untangle the mysteries of divinity in her debut book. Each poem represents a question moreso than an answer and places raw experience over judgment- covering topics from spirituality, to experiences with religion, to pleasure, the desire for goodness, coming of age, and the unforeseen connections among them. The playful nature of the collection eludes feeling stuffy at every turn. Thus, it invites the reader to also look at their own experiences with curiosity, nonjudgment, and revitalized energy.

36 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2022

Reviews

[Sarah Tollok · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I found inside the pages of Quiver was not only breathtakingly beautiful sapphic love poetry, I also found...myself. The references to growing up Catholic were prolific and achingly familiar. I could practically feel the uncomfortable pleated polyester plaid skirt of my youth constricting my growing pubescent waistline all over again. It's the imagery of crucifixes and revered virgins that creep in at all the more inopportune moments, like an unwanted visitor slipping in between the sheets. But this poet stared down those images and used them for her own. She elevated the deity of newfound love and the beauty of sex not in spite of her religious education, but in a way that spoke to defining for oneself what is worth being called sacred.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came by this book at an indie book festival in Fredericksburg. And honestly, it blew me away. This is the first time I've read a collection of poems in which the main theme explores the intricacies and complexities of growing up as a queer person in catholicism. Workowski speaks from a place of honesty and without judgement or anger. I personally struggle to see my past religious life in this lens, so it was healing to read these poems. There were moments too where her writing was simply stunning:

"Her teeth knock against grain / and strings of light while eyes / blink, and the hand reaches / for a globe of goop and sun: / mango. When she blinks / she seals so much light up / inside herself and they don't / know how else to handle / beauty so pure / except to say it's false" (The Christening)

"Hosanna" is another favorite, along with "Ode to the Return" and "Ode to my rosary, which now lives in a Goodwill in Indiana". I feel as if I could keep listing more, but I will stop here.

P.S. Even the preface itself was beautiful. Seriously.

[A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made whole ass page in my bullet journal just for this poetry collection, and if that’s not the highest compliment I could give a book I don’t know what is.

There’s a very niche audience that this poetry appeals to, but for the small army of us that experienced the devout-Catholic-to-lesbian pipeline, this is the closest thing to catharsis I’ve read. Workowski does a beautiful job marrying religious imagery with love and desire, and the ability to hold the past and future in both hands is hopeful and inspiring.

Personal Favorites: Church Family (doing the Catholic thing of making something holy in its death to Catholicism itself? Incredible), both Hosannas, and Self-Portrait as the Atheist.

[Darragh Dandurand · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's through the eyes of someone else that sometimes we understand our own experiences in richer color.

Workowski paints with her poems, splashing saturated hues of heartache, questioning, love and loss on a canvas of youth. The questions she asks with her work seem to lead to a sense of finality associated with first loves, quaking lust, and looking for oneself in the ashes of romance and growing up.

"Quiver" is the poetic embodiment of the brief and bittersweet moments when we catch ourselves reminising about choices we made, decisions our lovers left us to consider, and all the ongoing ripples ever radiating outward.

[Emily Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiver is a collection of thought-provoking poems that are raw and beautiful and honest. Many of them touched on topics like religion, sex, spirituality, and living one’s truth. I read this across the span of a couple of weeks and enjoyed savoring it. My personal favorite was “The Christening.” Reading this has definitely inspired me to read more poetry in the future! Thank you to the author, Maya, for gifting me a copy. :’)