Channeling the collection’s muse, jazz composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams, Hemming the Water speaks to the futility of trying to mend or straighten a life that is constantly changing. Here the spiritual and the secular comingle in a “Fierce fragmentation, lonely tune.” Harvey inhabits, challenges, and explores the many facets of the female self—as daughter, mother, sister, wife, and artist. Every page is rich with Harvey’s rapturous music.

• Pitt Faculty:  Yona Harvey