Wendy’s first poetry collection became an Amazon #1 bestseller with poems that inspire and celebrate healthy sexual intimacy.
Passionate Hearts: The Poetry of Sexual Love, compiled and edited by Wendy Maltz
(New World Library, 2007 edition, ISBN-13: 978-1-57731-567-4 paperback, also ISBN-10: 1-58831-567-7 hardcover) Foreword by Molly Peacock.
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Award-winning best-seller!
Passionate Hearts is a unique collection of 117 poems that inspire and celebrate healthy sexual intimacy. In these poems, sex is described as sensuous, safe, mutually desired, respectful and caring. Culled from the works of classic and contemporary poets such as Mollie Peacock, Sharon Olds, Gary Soto, e.e. cummings, Marge Piercy, Raymond Carver, Galway Kinnell, Pablo Neruda and Tess Gallagher, these poems celebrate the joys of sexual connection and expression throughout the life of a relationship, from early courtship to mature love.
“Poetry speaks a universal language,” writes Maltz in the introduction. “Unlike longer prose, which tends to relate more specifically to a character, poems evoke images that resonate for each of us, regardless of gender . . . Because sex itself is a momentary but profound experience, poetry is a perfect medium for exploring the meaning, mystery, and beauty of sex.”
In April of 1997, the Library Journal named Passionate Hearts the #4 Bestselling Poetry book in America. And Passionate Hearts was named AMAZON.COM’S BEST SELLING TITLE OF 1998 in the category “Sex in Literature.”
For a sampling of poems from the collection see our “Sexual Love Poetry” article here
Praise for Passionate Hearts:
“A lovely collection of contemporary poetry celebrating the tender mystery central to our lives: one human being delighting in another.”
–John Welwood, Ph.D., author Love and Awakening
“Passionate Hearts should be at the bedside of every couple.”
–Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., author Getting the Love You Want
“A provocative source of passion and pleasure. . . an essential addition to any sexuality library.”
–Patricia Love, Ed.D. coauthor Hot Monogamy
“Hot, but also heartfelt. . . an excellently edited selection. We are given visions and vignettes as satiating and stirring as the act itself.”
–Personal Growth Editor, RECOMMENDED READING Amazon.com
“Beautiful collection. . .These poems capture the heat of physical intimacy without sacrificing the warmth of emotional connection.”
–Poetry Editor RECOMMENDED READING Amazon.com
“Beautiful. . . will inspire as well as arouse. . . these poems are sexually and emotionally explicit, yet accessibe and touching in their honest intimacy.”
–Traci Borhani, reviewer
New Age Publishing and Retailing
“Wow!. . . This is the kind of book that puts you in that certain mood and makes you want to pick it up again and again.”
–Noelle Denke, reviewer
The Light Connection
“This is no casual collection of love poems, but an intense gathering of poems which celebrate sexual intimacy and spiritual warmth.”
–Diane C. Donovan, reviewer The Midwest Book Review
