Books

More than anything, the poems, wise reflections, and writing exercises that make up Anne Kinsey’s Mosaic Hearts feel like companions on the journey toward self-love and the kind of right action it will take to heal our culture and world. In these pages, we “meet the self-voiced needs/of the most marginalized/whose paths open the way/for the rest of us,” and find countless invitations to expand our love for ourselves and each other, especially in the face of the systemic racism that harms us all. Kinsey’s poems help us see how connected we already are, “communities intersecting mosaically,/with colorfully defiant beauty.”

In many ways, Mosaic Hearts is the resource we did not know we needed.  Kinsey invites their readers to consider others’ intersectional experiences in ways that help others feel less alone.  Structurally, this gracious invitation gives readers permission to browse, find something they like at that moment, sit with and reflect on the words and their meaning.  Kinsey’s poems, centering commentary, and reflective writing prompts are clustered into three main sections: pain, complexity, and joy.  Importantly, Kinsey does not limit the reader’s experience.  Much like the small tray near many cash registers where people can take a penny if they need one, Kinsey has left a bounty of gems behind for those who might need help ‘making change’ in their life transactions.  While written with an eye towards those living intersectional lives, Mosaic Hearts ‘pays it forward’ for a much wider audience.  One does not have to be part of a queer, interracial family living with disability, financial marginalization, and/or neurodivergence to find Mosaic Hearts useful.  In a world full of difference, anyone invested in being a hospitable neighbor and building a more humane community does well to use Kinsey’s words to help them think deeply about how others exist in creation.

Mosaic Hearts, pulsing with insight and imagination, invites readers to feel the depth of human experience and to create beauty from the complexly unique pieces of our lives.

Anne Kinsey’s Mosaic Hearts delivers a poignant and courageous reflection on identity, love, and the strength found in diversity.

These gems of poems exploring the pain, complexity, and joy of the mosaic of a particular queer, interracial family are a gift to all of us—both those experiencing marginalization ourselves, and those who are open to learning about the lived experiences of people with identities that put them at the margins of much of our society.

Mosaic Hearts is a masterful mosaic of poetry and reflection that challenges, heals, and inspires. Kinsey weaves the struggles and triumphs of a queer and interracial family into a tapestry of resilience, love, and transformative hope. With its deeply personal lens, the collection gives voice to unspoken pain while celebrating the joy and complexity of life’s intersections. Each poem and reflective pause calls readers to empathy and action, making Mosaic Hearts not just a book but a tool for understanding and change.