Wild Grace

Chelan Harkin had a profound mystical experience at 21; in a time of mental/emotional anguish, she was shown how she needed to live in a more transparent and authentic way, and that she would access her gifts to the degree that she opened herself to joy, trauma, power, and tenderness. While Chelan recognized poetry as a love and a gift, its flow at that time was blocked by self-judgment and perfectionism. So she decided to allow herself to write "a bad poem" every day for a month. This unlocked a different creative process and a poetic force that has not stopped flowing. Her publishing journey is only two years old but her first two books, Susceptible to Light and Let Us Dance!, have been self-publishing successes with sales numbers to be envied by most poets today. Her third book, Wild Grace, publishes in November 2023 with Monkfish. Chelan lives with her children in the Pacific Northwest.

“Chelan Harkin’s latest compilation of mystic poetry extracts pearls from the depths of despair, with the fearless fortitude of a world-class free diver. As a seasoned sherpa, she leads readers by the hand and heart through the valley of ego death with occasional paroxysms of ‘hooting and hollering.’ With equal parts tenderness and ferocity, Wild Grace adds a generous dollop of the Divine Feminine and a singular poeticism to a spiritual travel guide that should find its soon-to-be coffee-stained and dogeared way into the backpacks of many a soul sojourner.” —Nipun Mehta, Founder of ServiceSpace

“Wild Grace is Chelan Harkin’s most moving collection of poetry yet. Each poem is a satisfying dish, chock-full of fresh insights and earned epiphanies—and spiced with a dash of humor. In our overscheduled, too-busy lives, Harkin reminds us that we are, at heart, spiritual beings. These poems are deeply nourishing. It’s impossible to read them without feeling something long dormant stir inside you.” —Eric Weiner, New York Times Best-selling author of The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius

“There’s a Vedic saying: ‘Thy gifts, my Lord, I surrender to Thee.’ Chelan has indeed received a Divine gift. I don’t think ordinary human intelligence could express such depth in words. She is an instrument of the Divine. We all are, to varying degrees and in various ways. But rarely are our expressions so sublime and uplifting as hers. And she’s so young! I think that centuries from now, people will still be inspired by her poetry.” —Rick Archer, host of podcast Buddha at the Gas Pump: Conversations with “Ordinary” Spiritually Awakening People

“Harkin offers poems that include references to Persian mystics and draw from feminism and Buddhist teachings... Well-crafted and straightforward.” —Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Chelan Harkin’s Susceptible to Light:

“Hafiz says, ‘God and I have become like two giant fat people living in a tiny boat. We keep bumping into each other and laughing.’ May this collection help you feel the possibility of that kind of laughter.” —Daniel Ladinsky, The Gift

“These pages bear witness to a beautifully reckless and vulnerable love. Susceptible to Light shares the ineffable, all-consuming love of a Rumi or Hafiz, but situated in the here-and-now, amidst our dirty dishes and carpools. Do yourself a favor and savor these poems.” —Eric Weiner, bestselling author of books such as The Geography of Bliss and, most recently, The Socrates Express

“This is a beautiful compilation of WOWS! Let yourself be carried away on this ecstatic current of wonder-drenched poems and you will surely find your heart singing and dancing with each and every beautiful offering.” —Tina M. Benson, M.A., international bestselling author of A Woman Unto Herself

“All your tears will find sisters in her poems, and all your laughter will find a home in her belly. Her poems are just plain fun to read, yet they take us to the deepest darkest loam, where lightning goes.” —Alfred K. LaMotte, author of Wounded Bud