The Heart is a Poet
type: CreativeWork
description: When We Meet Heart to Face is a memoir focused on my journey of heart failure, heart transplant, recovery and acceptance. It is a bricolage or suturing of poetry and prose that examines the physical and psychic dimensions of undergoing a medical heart transplant, while also considering wider cultural and symbolic associations with, and the iconic status of, the heart. In crafting this memoir, I have written 68 poems. Most are narrative and episodic, although some are purely lyrical. They are interwoven with passages of prose to reveal an overarching narrative with a climax and resolution. The thesis is divided into five parts. The first section, Things Without Faces, covers diagnosis, initial treatment and eventual deterioration. Section two, The List, introduces my need for a heart transplant, the process of being listed for an operation and the wait for a heart. It includes poems that flash back to my childhood as my health declined, I found my thoughts often returning to certain moments during this time. Section three, Change of Heart, covers the heart transplant operation and immediate recovery. Section four, Heart to Heart, encompasses my struggle to feel well again, and my efforts to make sense of what happened. In the fifth and final section, Heart to Face, I come face to face with my old heart—literally—and figuratively in the sense that I come to terms with my emotions, not only regarding falling sick but also, past heartaches. This section considers the impact of emotional suffering on the physical body and introduces the theory of epigenetics, a scientific field of investigation into the impact of trauma on the expression of genes. A major inspiration for this section was a cardiologist’s question on whether my family had a history of heart trouble. My search for the answer led me to write a series of poems about whānau and tīpuna who for various reasons—including disease and war—were subjected to severe emotional distress or “heart trouble”. In the Epilo…
abstract: When We Meet Heart to Face is a memoir focused on my journey of heart failure, heart transplant, recovery and acceptance. It is a bricolage or suturing of poetry and prose that examines the physical and psychic dimensions of undergoing a medical heart transplant, while also considering wider cultural and symbolic associations with, and the iconic status of, the heart. In crafting this memoir, I have written 68 poems. Most are narrative and episodic, although some are purely lyrical. They are interwoven with passages of prose to reveal an overarching narrative with a climax and resolution. The thesis is divided into five parts. The first section, Things Without Faces, covers diagnosis, initial treatment and eventual deterioration. Section two, The List, introduces my need for a heart transplant, the process of being listed for an operation and the wait for a heart. It includes poems that flash back to my childhood as my health declined, I found my thoughts often returning to certain moments during this time. Section three, Change of Heart, covers the heart transplant operation and immediate recovery. Section four, Heart to Heart, encompasses my struggle to feel well again, and my efforts to make sense of what happened. In the fifth and final section, Heart to Face, I come face to face with my old heart—literally—and figuratively in the sense that I come to terms with my emotions, not only regarding falling sick but also, past heartaches. This section considers the impact of emotional suffering on the physical body and introduces the theory of epigenetics, a scientific field of investigation into the impact of trauma on the expression of genes. A major inspiration for this section was a cardiologist’s question on whether my family had a history of heart trouble. My search for the answer led me to write a series of poems about whānau and tīpuna who for various reasons—including disease and war—were subjected to severe emotional distress or “heart trouble”. In the Epilo…
author: Malcolm, Andrea
keywords: Creative writing, Poetry, Medical poetry, Heart transplant, Heart, Memoir, Creative fiction, Making meaning, Healing poetry, Andrea Malcolm
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:46:16Z
provider: AUT University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: AUT University