For Immediate Release
Contact:
Merrill Miller, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, merrillmiller@americanhumanist.org
(Washington, D.C., March 27, 2105)—Humanist Press, the publishing arm of the American Humanist Association, is pleased to announce the release of its latest book, Once You Had Hands by Tasha Golden. This stunning collection of poetry gives voice to the silence surrounding women’s subservience in the name of conservative Christian culture.
The book has already received advance praise from reviewers. Jennifer Michael Hecht, author of Doubt: A History, calls it “a smart and moving book of poetry…Golden has sharp senses and wit in depicting her disappointment and fury at religious promises. There is joy here too, hard won, and quietly compelling.” Xavier University Professor of English Norman Finkelstein lauds Once You Had Hands as “a work of graceful beauty…Golden’s work will stay with the reader for a long time.”
Through haunting language that is both delicate and raw, Once You Had Hands draws on Golden’s distinctive experience of growing up in the Bible Belt as well as her family’s Tennessee roots. The poems explore issues that communities typically shroud in secrecy, such as domestic violence, disappointment in religion and gender inequalities. Once You Have Hands will move the reader, sometimes to sadness and sometimes to anger, with the broken promises of conservative Christianity and a God that is disinterested and vengeful, not loving and benevolent.
Once You Had Hands raises evocative questions about the nature of religion and its domineering relationship to those who follow it. The book’s final poem, “Once You Had Hands,” keenly articulates the loss and relief felt in leaving religion: “I only know/how long I keep dreaming, asking,/How long, Lord?…/I soak my pillow, shirt, and wake/with one hand firm against my brow./It isn’t yours.” Her poignant style will haunt the reader long after the book has been finished.
Tasha Golden is the frontwoman and songwriter for the critically-acclaimed band Ellery. Her songs have been heard in major motion pictures, TV dramas, radio and more. Her poetry and prose have been published in Pleaides, Ethos Journal and Coldmoon Poetics, among others. She researches the impact of the arts on social sciences and blogs for Ploughshares literary journal.
Copies of Once You Had Hands are available at humanistpress.com with links to other print and ebook retailers. The book is available in paperback for $17.99 and ebook for $9.99.
###
Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists and other non-religious Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
Humanist Press is the publishing house of the American Humanist Association, providing material for the humanist/freethought/atheist market since 1995.