The Weight of Desire

a poetry memoir

praise for the weight of desire

In this intimate and brave collection, poet Carvalho invites readers to walk with her from her days as a young immigrant, as she navigated challenging childhood events, to the calm that manifested when love entered her life. We feel the deep pain of her experiences and see how she learned the path to peace. What a blessing that she has opened up her heart to share her secrets with us!

—Diana Raab, MFA, PhD Author of Writing for Bliss and Lust: Poems

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Jina Carvalho’s poetry is gripping and filled with vignettes that are moving, poignant and original. The sweep of topics range from motherhood to violation, to disorienting technology and most viscerally, to marriage, bodies and lovers. An impressive debut collection.

- Dr. Elaine Gale, Writing Center Director Antioch University Graduate School for Leadership and Change

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These are poems of passion in all its manifestations—sanctioned and forbidden, unrequited and reciprocal. In The Weight of Desire, Jina Carvalho reveals her secrets, many of which you will be unable to forget.

- David Starkey, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate (2009-2011) Author of Like a Soprano

 

Women In a Golden State Anthology

Women in a Golden State: California Poets at 60 and Beyond

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.Women in a Golden State: California Poets at 60 and Beyond

Edited by Diana Raab and Chryss Yost, Women in a Golden State includes poems and micro-essays from across California, ranging from awarded Poets Laureate to emerging writers who are finding new forms of expression. The collection examines the mythology and reality of being a woman of a certain age, especially in youth-obsessed California, inviting its readers to reconsider aging not as an end, but as an ongoing journey—one filled with beauty, strength, and boundless possibilities