Wendy Wisner's third collection of poems, The New Life, was published by Cornerstone Press (University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point) in 2024. She is also the author of two previous books of poems, Epicenter and Morph and Bloom. Wendy's poems and essays have been published in Prairie Schooner, Spoon River Review, Passages North, THRUSH, The Washington Post, Lilith Magazine, and elsewhere. Wendy is currently an Associate Editor at Rise Up Review.

Other poems by Wendy Wisner in Verse Daily:
August 26, 2005:   "Ocean" and "Origins" The island ended where the ocean began. But the ocean never ended...."

Other poems on the web by Wendy Wisner:
"First Love"
"If Mother"
"Late Summer, Persephone"
Four poems
"Breadcrumbs"

Wendy Wisner's Website.

About The New Life:

"The capacious, tender poems of Wendy Wisner's The New Life range from the peach fuzz on a new baby's head and the leaky, weepy days of early motherhood to midlife, postpartum sex, and the legacy of intergenerational trauma. 'It's dangerous // to be a baby, a child / in this world,' Wisner reminds us—but these wise, well-crafted poems insist on the wonder and treasure of raising children, too."
—Nancy Reddy

"Wendy Wisner's newest book of poetry, The New Life, reminds us—frankly—that children can die: 'It's dangerous // to be a baby, a child / in this world,' the poem 'After Newtown' says. But the book also holds those stark realities up against the miracle of the everyday, like a newborn's soft scalp: 'Glory / to the goddamn / peach fuzz on his head.' Candid and sincere, sensual and grounded, this collection is an intimate and masterful examination of marriage and parenting."
—Lisa Ampleman

"Wendy Wisner's The New Life is a stunning collection of poems touching on the collective memory and the complexities of women and mothers. Leading with deep compassion, Wisner sees the world through a mother's eyes, contending with impermanence and complex emotions. Her poems, exploring maternal love and loss—from a grandmother's stillbirth to the grief of 9/11 and Sandy Hook—remind us of the beauty of a woman's expansive empathy. Through the wisdom of Wisner's words, 'this is the new life // and I can trust it not to hurt me,' we find a poignant collection full of hope and renewal that all should read."
—Kelli Russell Agodon