Waiting

by Suzanne Kamata

Suzanne Kamata’s many fans know she writes wonderful fiction, but with Waiting we learn she’s a poet too. Every poem in this small, beautiful book is a spare, lyrical gem. Together, they tell a haunting page-turner of a story about a town and a family grappling with loss and holding tight to hope. Each character in Waiting is fully dimensional and real, yet built from so few words I kept asking myself, “How did she do that?” I don’t know, but I’m very grateful she did. – Ona Gritz, author of Geode

Seamlessly braiding true crime story and coming-of-age narrative, Kamata captures—with compassion—those long moments of longing for the next steps into sex, university life, and freedom. In this town, however, those tentative yearnings are overshadowed by the news of a missing classmate, also on the cusp of a long-anticipated adulthood; but will she ever get to experience it? In this timely novella-in-verse, Kamata adeptly uses the empty, mysterious spaces inherent in her poems to embody the uncertainty and ache of a universal moment of waiting—for the end of high school and the beginning of everything else. – Jessica Goodfellow, author of Whiteout

A teenage girl, her family, and an entire town wait for news. In these deceptively quiet, spare lines, something feels ready to spring. One teenage girl faces decisions about her future, while her missing classmate may not have one. The fierce nature of love is one of many truths that come to light in this gripping poetic narrative. Waiting is rich with suspense and depth, right to its poignant last words. – Tanja Bartel, author of Everyone at This Party

48 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Five-time Pushcart Prize nominee Suzanne Kamata is the author of the memoir Squeaky Wheels: Travels with My Daughter by Train, Plane, Metro, Tuk-tuk and Wheelchair (Wyatt-Mackenzie, 2019); the novels Indigo Girl (GemmaMedia, 2019), The Mermaids of Lake Michigan (Wyatt-Mackenzie, 2017), Screaming Divas (Merit Press, 2014), Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible (GemmaMedia, 2013) and Losing Kei (Leapfrog Press, 2008); and editor of three anthologies - The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan, Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs, and Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2009). Her short fiction and essays have appeared widely. She was a winner in the memoir category of the Half the World Global Literati Award.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my book, and I am proud of it!

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suzanne very kindly sent me a copy of her new collection "Waiting" which I really enjoyed. Collections where the poems stand independently but also combine to make a narrative may just be my favourite form of creative writing, mixing my earliest love, poetry, with my longest love - narrative. Waiting melds a true crime story - Suzanne went to the same high school as Sharon Faye “Shari” Smith, who was murdered in 1985 by Larry Gene Bell - with the stresses of adolescent life to make a powerful sequence or “novella-in-verse”.

[Sujata Parashar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suzzane Kamata's "Waiting" is a beautiful tribute to her high school classmate, Sharon Faye Smith, who was murdered in 1985. The gruesome crime and its impact on the author/poet compelled her to write this poignant novella-in-verse. Evocative, sad, angry and deep, I found it an endearing read for more reasons than one. This was also the first time I read a story-in-verse with each short poem nudging me to turn to the next one. A form I would also like to attempt sometime... Thank you Suzzane for this precious gift!

[Meredith Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching tribute to a classmate, and reflection on family life as a teenager. The protagonist's parents worry about her safety, as she explores a new relationship, and cares for her younger brother who has lost his Cocker Spaniel.