whole

poems on reclaiming the pieces of ourselves and creating something new

Marla Taviano

The magic here in Marla’s direct and poignant words is that she’s not afraid to let us in on what she has learned in her storied life, but she’s real enough to share the missteps it’s taken for her to get there.”  —Tyler Merritt, author of I Take My Coffee Black and creator of The Tyler Merritt Project

When you’ve spent your entire life defined by your faith, who are you when that faith shatters, leaving you to pick up broken pieces, wondering if anything can be saved? Marla Taviano—author, single mom, and former Christian—set out on a journey to find out.

What she uncovered was that, after deconstructing a toxic belief system and working to dismantle systems of injustice, some things hadn’t changed. She still loved people and wanted them to be free and whole—and she wanted that for herself too. It just looked different now. So whole: poems on reclaiming the pieces of ourselves and creating something new talks about looking back to move forward, new thoughts on god, our inner lives, embodied living, and books, books, books.

If you long for the freedom to be your true self, if you ache for healing and wholeness for yourself and a broken world, if you need some lighthearted fun amid all the hard, Marla’s got you. This book is a collection of mini-love letter poems to herself and all of us.

Praise for whole

“Whole is a collection of snapshots of what life can look like post-deconstruction.”

Cynthia Vacca Davis, author of Intersexion

“At times humorous, occasionally remorseful, but always open, honest, and courageous, Marla Taviano is fully human. Thankfully, her seeking and her humanity finds its way onto the page and into her readers’ hearts. She is a gift.”

Farah Jasmine Griffin, author of Read Until You Understand and In Search of a Beautiful Freedom

“In these poems, Marla shows up as funny, vulnerable, authentic, committed to integrity, and committed to wholeness. That’s what love embodied looks like. Whole is a journey in love. Love of self. Love of neighbor. Love of creation. Love of who you are becoming in light of the places you’ve been. It’s a contagious kind of love.

Trey Ferguson, author of Theologizin’ Bigger: Homilies on Living Freely and Loving Wholly, co-host of Three Black Men, and creator of The New Living Treyslation

“Whole is poetic manifestations of observations, realizations, and declarations of a woman whose journey has taken her around the world to find the truest treasures within. Marla’s inspirational insight bathes the reader in truth. ”

La Toya Hankins, Gamma Xi Phi National President and author of SBF Seeking

“Marla takes fragments of her life and blends them together perfectly to create something beautifully, uniquely whole. She gathers them up, glues them together and creates a masterpiece that is now her life. A must read for those that need to be reminded that broken crayons still color.”

Sawyer Cole Hobson, author of Coming Home

“Everyone who has gone through upheaval in their life will recognize the poignancy of the questions these poems ask, and the joy of finding resolution, peace, and wholeness.”

Jessica Kantrowitz, author of The Long Night, 365 Days of Peace, and Open Things

“Marla Taviano’s spiritual journey is different from mine, but her poignant, humorous, and honest words left me closer to my faith. She gives herself and readers space to ask questions, to doubt, to laugh, and to sit without concrete answers, and isn’t that what we all need?“

Kathy Khang, award-winning co-author of Loving Disagreement and Raise Your Voice

“If whole was simply a book of poems about someone speaking their truth into the world, that would be enough. The magic here in Marla’s direct and poignant words is that she’s not afraid to let us in on what she has learned in her storied life, but she’s real enough to share the missteps it’s taken for her to get there.”

Tyler Merritt, author of I Take My Coffee Black and creator of The Tyler Merritt Project

“In whole, Marla skillfully encapsulates the cyclical nature of deconstruction. Her writing reminds us that ‘in real life there’s no shortcut to wholeness’ as she invites us into more questions, curiosity, and imagination. As a reader of her poetic words, I became more whole.”

Nicki Pappas, author of As Familiar as Family and Becoming Egalitarian

“What a way to bring this trilogy back full circle! Marla examines the broken shards of herself and explores how to rearrange them into something beautiful, something whole. You will feel all the parts of these poems deeply, and that is such a vulnerable experience.”

Tayler Simon, owner of Liberation is Lit and author of Phases: Poems

“For anyone who has weathered the storm of deconverting from high-control religion, Marla Taviano’s whole is a rainbow of humor, heart, joy, and justice. This is a must-read poetry collection for anyone wondering what’s next after faith. It’s a poetic path paved with honesty and hope.”

Kandi Zeller, author and editor

Marla Taviano is into books, love, justice, globes, anti-racism, blue, gray, rainbows, and poems. She reads and writes for a living, wears her heart on her t-shirts, and is on a mission/quest/journey to live wholefarted (not a typo). She’s the author of unbelieve: poems on the journey to becoming a heretic, jaded: a poetic reckoning with white evangelical christian indoctrination, and other books. She lives in South Carolina with her four freaking awesome kids and two adorable cats. Find out more at marlataviano.com.

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