We'll be celebrating the launch of the event by sharing reviews from our community and giving you a chance to win one of three copies of the book and an Amazon gift card!
Water in Every Room embodies the fluctuations of emotion and form in new motherhood. Ferocious and tender, tending and transformed, mother embraces both her child and the dualities of self in this collection of poems.
You better be sitting down when you read Heather Brown Barrett’s Water in Every Room because these poems will knock you off your feet—the imaginative and emotive energy crackles on every page as she writes about her metamorphosis into motherhood and the son she loves from bottomless depths. “Oh come / be our child, wind of change,” Barrett cries in “Blue Moon,” a resounding “Yes” to the stirring inside that will bloom her son and the water trail of poems that follow in myriad forms and styles such as haibun and ekphrasis. In “Growing a Mother” she writes, “Tender words shook my bones / loose, rattled like seeds / in a coffee tin,” and they will shake you too in words that, like a “churning ocean in our chests,” let us recognize our human capacity for sacrifice and transformation.
— Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Arkansas Poet Laureate and author of The Perfume of Pain and Flying Yellow: New and Selected Poems
Honest and heartfelt, Water in Every Room beautifully captures the dueling tensions of motherhood—the overwhelming love and frustration, the sense of purpose coupled with helplessness and extreme exhaustion. Heather Brown Barrett expertly oscillates between quiet but joyful observations of parenting and the torrent of raw emotions that accompany the shift into her new role as a mother. This collection is a deeply resonant and perfectly rendered portrait of the mother-child relationship and a necessary reminder that, like the child, the mother is a burgeoning self who requires nourishment and gentle care to grow.
—Claire Taylor, author of One Good Thing and Mother Nature, and publisher/editor-in-chief of Little Thoughts Press
In this stunning debut collection by poet Heather Brown Barrett, we are confronted with the fierceness of motherhood in the face of distress and joy. Water in Every Room creates metaphors for the everyday of family life that explore time, doubt, and the yearning for wholeness through the lens of nature and what it means to be human.
—Michael Jon Khandelwal, Executive Director of The Muse Writers Center (Norfolk, VA)
Publisher: Kelsay Books (February 2025)
Print length: 42 pages
ISBN-10 : 1639807071
ISBN-13 : 978-1639807079
What WOW Readers Thought
"Heather Brown Barrett's poetry book Water in Every Room takes a dive into motherhood. Several poems, including this line from Grit, "I drink his joy in swells" invites the reader into the loving relationship with her son. Postpartum, Thrown, and Bones of my Bones stuck out the most for me. I recommend this book to any parent or to someone who understands the deep bond between a mother and her child."
~ Heather J.
"I really enjoyed the poems in Heather Brown Barrett’s Water in Every Room. They are intimate and moving, but they’re also crafted with attention to image, rhythm, and form. There’s so much tenderness here, but the writing never feels sentimental. Her narrator is restrained, even when taking on heavy material around the body, birth, fear, love, and life. I appreciated the way the collection captures motherhood not as one simple feeling, but as a transformation that's at once joyful, exhausting, frightening, overwhelming, and full of devotion. This is a thoughtful, moving collection, and I know I'll return to these poems again and again."
~ Kaecey M.
"Buckle up! This stunning debut captures the emotional rollercoaster of motherhood. Up and down she takes us through the torrents, rivulets, and calm waters of the journey. Perfect Mother's Day gift. Also the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys a darned good poem."
~ Nita S.
"This was a sweet compilation of poems about motherhood and mom life. It shares the big feelings and extreme exhaustion as well as all the little joys. The poems vary in style and flow. I especially enjoyed 'Growing a Mother' and 'Grit.'"
~ Julie S.
"A delightful book to read around Mother's Day and during Poetry Month, which I did. It is a book of poems that are words of devotion in every way to parenthood. These are moving words brilliantly describing in various imagery, form and rhythm what it is all about. The words of motherhood she presents are precious and tender with a collection to visit to help when feeling joyful or overwhelmed or even wanting a feeling of connection."
~ Charity H.
"Water in Every Room is a combination of two things every parent knows. Literary drawings of the scenes we all live - the mountains of laundry, the finger paints, the baby giggles. But if you look beyond that you can find the overwhelming emotions - the love, the fear, the discovery. These poems run the gamut from joyful celebrations of mothering to honest exhaustion to haunting memories of past thoughts. I feel Heather Brown Barrett did a fine job capturing motherhood in a way that we all recognize a glimpse of ourself in her poems."
~ Jodi W.
"The book of poems Water in Every Room took me back to the wonderful, terrible days of early motherhood, as it perfectly captures the bittersweet moments of being a mother. Heather Brown Barrett takes us on a relatable journey starting with the conception of her child by “two hungry wolves…hungry for more life” in “Blue Moon” and ending with the playful pirate poem “Prelivers & 20 Keys”. Simple to read, there is so much to love in this book, whether we are seeking “Sustenance”, “Growing a Mother”, or discussing heart-wrenching “Curious Words”. It’s a book you can return to again and again."
~ Linda S.
"Water in Every Room, by Heather Brown Barrett, is an absolute gem! If you love poetry, motherhood, or just damn good writing, please read it. I enjoyed it in one sitting, as memories rose to the surface and all my emotions poured out. Barrett’s elegant expressions reveal the passion, uncertainty, exhaustion, hunger, strength, and mostly love that a mother feels. Her use of metaphor, imagery, and the senses brings the reader into her space—morning sounds, smells, and touch, “his tiny fingers, soft as moss…” She imagines her child’s future—what she will teach him, how they will play. My favorite is “Active Imagination” – allowing chaos to become a delight. This book of poems is also a delight!"
~ Leslie C.
"This book of poetry really brought me back to the early times with my now grown three children in a most touching way. I read a lot of poetry that ends up bringing motherhood to the surface, the good and the bad, and this collection is another in that vein that I’ve felt a connection with. I’m so happy to be able to put it on my poetry shelf alongside other women poets who keep it raw and real. I look forward to more of her poetry in the future!"
~ Erin A.
About the Author, Heather Brown Barrett
Heather Brown Barrett is an award-winning poet and writer in southeastern Virginia. She mothers her young son and contemplates life, the universe, and everything with her writer husband. She is a Cherokee Nation citizen, the current Membership Chair of The Poetry Society of Virginia, a member of The Muse Writers Center, and a former board member of Hampton Roads Writers.
Her work has appeared in Literary Mama, The Ekphrastic Review, Yellow Arrow Journal, Formidable Woman Sanctuary, Black Bough Poetry, OyeDrum, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for Best of the Net. Her poetry is featured in the global TELEPHONE exhibition, was previously featured on the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail as part of The Poetry Society of Virginia’s Poetry on the Trail project, and previously in the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts Everyone Has a Story exhibit.
Much of her work is influenced by themes and dualities of motherhood, modes of forgiveness and grace, the structures of curiosity, time, and attention, and the types of subjects that plague most poets, like death, grocery stores, and birds.
She’s the author of Water in Every Room (Kelsay Books 2025), a collection of poems embodying the fluctuations of emotion and form in new motherhood.
Instagram and Substack: @heatherbrownbarrett
--- Interview by Nicole Pyles
WOW: Congrats on your poetry book, Water in Every Room. What inspired this collection of poetry?
Heather: Thank you for the kind words! This collection was inspired by becoming a mother. What an incredible gift to watch a life blossom, and to be so transformed by it. I’ve always been a creative person, but motherhood plunged me deeper into my creativity. New motherhood was the most challenging and most rewarding experience of my life—a bit isolating and a lot transformative. Being a parent offers a new awareness and vulnerability that wasn’t quite accessible before. More visible now are the minutiae and liminal spaces and dualities, and exploring it all is very exciting. Writing allows me to explore the motions and emotions of the darker recesses and emerge lighter, and so writing during early motherhood helped me sustain a sense of self and process the highs and lows of my new role. It was my intention to create tension and visual appeal in the book with opposing forms, lines, subject, and POV, and to thread hope throughout. Very much embodying the new mother experience!
WOW: You really have done exactly that! What do you hope readers take away from reading this collection?
Heather: I hope mothers will feel connection, and less alone in their frustrations or transformations. I hope readers will see my collection as a love letter from mother to son, and also a love letter to the sense of self in the new mothering role. I also hope readers will feel encouraged to write about their own experiences, if they feel a pull to do so.
WOW: I hope so too! Who should read this collection?
Heather: My book makes a great Mother’s Day gift! Water in Every Room will appeal to expecting, new, and seasoned mothers. This collection of poems speaks to the universal experience of new motherhood and its common themes: the mother-child relationship, transformation of self, dualities present in the mothering role, exhaustion, frustration, strength, and the healing power of love and hope. Several mothers and grandmothers have told me that reading my collection brought back their own memories of giving birth and caring for their babies and toddlers. Fathers have read it and enjoyed it. My book might also appeal to those who are curious about parenting life. I structured this book linearly, even though it’s generally not advised to do so with a poetry collection, because it occurred to me that part of the story was showing the journey through postpartum and slowly but surely coming up from the depths, and that this would allow for more relatability and accessibility for some readers, especially those who don’t normally read poetry. I’m honored when anyone reads this collection!
WOW: I love how it draws all kinds of readers! What wisdom do you have for those nervous about sharing their writing with the world?
Heather: Share it. Writing, and the arts in general, is important for expression, healing, connection. Even if you don’t share it with the world, continue to write. But if you want to share, do it. Find community in other writers, because writers are an incredibly generous and encouraging lot. Be patient with yourself, with your writing and revision. Study the craft of writing, and read, read, read. Create a thick skin for the inevitable rejections. It’s all part of the process. If you embrace the process, you will grow as a writer.
WOW: Absolutely. Creating a thick skin does help! Where do you like to write? Can you share photos?
Heather: Some 4 AM mornings I’m at our kitchen island. (First photo.) Some days, while my son is at school, I work in our library room. (Second photo.) But a great deal of the work goes on in my head, throughout my busy days. For me, words, writing, are a constant flow, like water, spilling out of me all day long. I try to write everything down before it disappears. Thoughts, ideas, fragments, sentences, ramblings, revision. I use my phone’s notes app all the time, and I often write in physical journals. One thing I love about being a writer is how portable it is!
WOW: You have such beautiful spaces to write! Thank you so much for joining us today.
***** BOOK & $25 GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY *****
Enter the Gleam form below for a chance to win a copy of the poetry collection on motherhood, Water in Every Room by Heather Brown Barrett and a $25 Amazon gift card! The giveaway ends May 17th at 11:59 pm CT. We will choose a winner the next day and follow up via email. Good luck, and Happy Mother's Day!
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