Overview

These are poems by a doctor who cares for his patient's lives and struggles, and in the process explores the larger questions of living.... In HEART MURMURS, John Vanek visits life s essential counties-Longing, Love, Lament- and there locates both faith and wonder. These are poems that search the heartland, and those who reside therein, for sense and constancy through language that both surprises and emboldens, poems that do not expect miracles but wish them for us all the same. -Lou Suarez, author of Ask

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9781933964270

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Reviews

With humor, sympathy, and an eye for what makes us most human, John Vanek offers us a far-reaching view of life that feels hard-earned and complete. -Elton Glaser, author of Here and Hereafter. . . . John Vanek's poetry displays an admirable range of subject matter and style. He charms the reader with imagery and wry humor. HEART MURMURS is a very welcome collection from a confident, compelling poet. - Beth Ann Fennelly, author of Unmentionables. What I like most about the poems in John Vanek's first collection is his commitment to the poetics of clarity.Things are said straight in these poems, with careful attention to illuminating what the poet calls 'a shelter for my shifting life, ' by which he means our lives as well. - Bruce Weigl, author of Song of Napalm.

What I like most about the poems in John Vanek's first collection is his commitment to the poetics of clarity.Things are said straight in these poems, with careful attention to illuminating what the poet calls 'a shelter for my shifting life, ' by which he means our lives as well. - Bruce Weigl, author of Song of Napalm. With humor, sympathy, and an eye for what makes us most human, John Vanek offers us a far-reaching view of life that feels hard-earned and complete. -Elton Glaser, author of Here and Hereafter. . . . John Vanek's poetry displays an admirable range of subject matter and style. He charms the reader with imagery and wry humor. HEART MURMURS is a very welcome collection from a confident, compelling poet. - Beth Ann Fennelly, author of Unmentionables.

Author Information

John (Jack) Vanek was born and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area. He received his bachelor s degree from Case Western Reserve University, where his passion for creative writing took root. He received his medical degree from the University of Rochester, did his internship at University Hospitals of Cleveland, and completed his residency at the Cleveland Clinic. While practicing medicine for a quarter century, his interest in writing never waned. He began honing his craft by attending creative writing workshops and college courses. At first writing solely for himself and his family, he was surprised and gratified when his poems won contests and were published in a variety of literary journals and magazines. He has since published four dozen poems, and been invited to read his work at the George Bush Presidential Library in Texas, the Akron Art Museum in Ohio, and Eckerd College in Florida. His poem, The People s Republic, was inducted in 2002 into the permanent collection of the George Bush Presidential Library, and reprinted in Red, White and Blues: Poets on the Promise of America by the University of Iowa Press. When not reading or writing, he spends his time swimming, boating, and hiking in Sandusky, Ohio and St. Petersburg, Florida.

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