Foreword by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Sylvain Reynard.
In Utterly Loved, award-winning paranormal romance writer Kat Bastion shares her poetry with the world for charity. Heartfelt poems, rich in passion and rooted in nature, transport us to misty forests and sandy beaches. What began as a private collection of poetic love letters to her husband for their twentieth anniversary, evolved into a book of poems and quotes they decided to share.
Proceeds of Utterly Loved, after costs and taxes, will go directly to selected charities. They will feel Utterly Loved.
Visit her website www.katbastion.com and her blog www.talktotheshoe.com for a list of charities and updates.
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Title: Utterly Loved Author: Kat Bastion Genre: Poetry Grade/Rating: 5 out of 5
In an exclusive interview, Kat Bastion revealed to us what inspired her to write poetry. New York Times Bestselling author Sylvain Reynard wrote a guest post for us, here on the Literati Literatures Lovers blog, titled: The Art and Poetry of Desire and it was that entry that inspired Bastion to write.
To say that I am devoted to poetry would be an understatement. I grew up on poetry and some of the first reading I ever did were poems. Most of the rhythms we all learn as children are just little poems. Each Wednesday on our blog we feature poetry, which we label as Poetry Wednesday, because we believe that poetry of all types should be read and enjoyed. I have often thought that poets don’t bleed blood, but ink; because they express every emotion they have in their poetry. Poetry is the bone and marrow of expressive writing because the poet puts their life experiences into each poem with every word they choose.
The emotion Bastion focuses on is one of the most complex of our human emotions: love. The book explores love; through the use of imagery, the seasons, grace, passion, exploration, family, happiness, and desire; the myriad of emotions of living. Utterly Loved is about living and the questions that surround us. How does one live their life; as a player in the game or as a spectator? What is the quality of a life well lived? What do we, as humans, imprint on the world? What do we cherish and leave behind?
In her poems, Bastion cherishes life lived in love. Like any good poet she’s able to invoke emotions through the imagery that her words paint, on the landscape of her art. In her poem Sum of Days, she explorers the many facets of love, those of Storge, Philia, Eros and Agape. These stages of love comprise how we as humans relate to each other and what we recognize as love in ourselves. In the poems Transcendence, Beautiful Seasons, and Something About Snow, the simple love of a season or place; is how she brings out the joy of living. The sensual delights of love are delved into in both Undone and Heaven…Found. The ability to give yourself over completely in the act of love, to lay ones soul bare to another, is probed in the poem Utterly Loved. The poems Sun in my Eyes and Saturday Morning bind the deep hope and strength of love. Each of the twenty one poems in the book are beautiful and should be read and enjoyed. Everyone wishes to love and be loved in the same way that Bastion writes about amore.
The truly remarkable thing about this book is not the words about love, but the author herself. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to Worldvision and Covenant House. So I would encourage everyone who reads this review to buy at least one copy; heck buy two and donate one to your local library. Better yet, since it is the Holiday Season, buy several and give them as gifts.
Fans of Sylvain Reynard will be interested to know that he wrote the forward to UTTERLY LOVED.
I am in love with this collection of poetry. The passion and connection and theme of hope. I needed to pause as I read and just feel the emotions the poems evoked.
I received a copy of this book through First Reads.
While I am not much of a poetry reader (and therefore don't have much to compare this book against), I nevertheless feel that "Utterly Loved," a collection of poems that conveys the author's love for her husband of 20 years, is a good read for those who have experienced a long-term relationship based on trust and mutual understanding. The author poetically expresses the simultaneous deep passion and contentment she feels with her husband. She feels "Utterly Loved" by him. Additionally, various snippets interspersed between poems challenge the reader to spread love throughout the world(not just with your significant other.) The argument is that an abundance of love will make the world a better place.
While I understand that "Utterly Loved" is an ode to a passionate, long-term fulfilling relationship, it perhaps could have been strengthened by inserting a bit of "struggle" into the pages. In other words, no long-term relationship is perfect, and the poems lead one to think that perfection in love is attainable through the perfectly rosy picture that is painted. Perhaps a poem about forgiveness or strength in the face of adversity would have rounded out the collection a bit more.
I have been waiting for this book to come via post to Australia but when I got the great news I could also get it via kindle I just had to get it straight away! i knew it would be good but i was wrong its GREAT and when I received my Paperback copy was even more blessed - A must read!
I have followed Kat via her Blog and have been impressed and touched by her powerful words but this amazing collection of her works had me emotional before I even got to the poems......such a beautiful and unique love relationship she has experienced in her life and so lucky are we that she has been so very giving in sharing it with the world via her Poems! Let alone her incredible generosity to donate all monies to charity, I'm in awe of this lady!
To add to all of this also the amazing and very talented writer Sylvain Reynard of the Gabriel's Inferno & Gabriel's Rapture has written a forward in the book.....just brilliant ppl. Who are changing the world in their ways and inspiring others to do also!!!
I absolutely loved that Kat shared her heart with us and that all the proceeds go to charity goes to show you just how big that heart is. These poems can be a daily, weekly or monthly reminder of our own love
I don't read a lot of poetry, but I thought these were well done. They evoked emotion in me. If you are looking for modern love poems be sure to check out this collection.