Hagit Vardi
Hagit Vardi trained as a flutist and later in different modalities of healing arts. For the past twenty years Hagit has been helping people as a Feldenkrais practitioner through the University of Wisconsin Integrative Health program and in her private practice.
In her sixties, Vardi began writing poetry as part of her own healing process. She has published five books of poetry in Hebrew with Pardes Publishing. Her poems were featured in newspapers, literary magazines and on radio. They attract attention among mental health professionals and centers that assist victims of sexual abuse.
Books:
Glass Girl (Pardes Publishing 2013)
Hagit Vardi’s first book, Glass Girl, deals with the aftermath of her molestation by a stranger at age five, which surfaced to her consciousness a few years later (“The Promise”; “The Day My Mother Turned Her Back”). This collection of poems brings together Hagit the girl and Hagit the mature woman through a process that leads to acceptance (“I Am Not Budging”; “I Came Out this Morning”).
In Lieu of Choking (Pardes Publishing 2015)
The poems in Hagit Vardi’s second book, In Lieu of Choking, depict the complex relationship among uncertainty, confusion, denial, and a resolve to ‘break the code’. These poems exist in the space where the need to know and the fear of knowing intersect (“I Decided Nothing had Happened”; “Looking for Truth”).
She Wasn't Damaged: Poems of Survival (Pardes Publishing 2015; English translation: Vardi books 2022)
Hagit Vardi’s third book, She Wasn't Damaged, portrays the process of awakening to childhood scenes of molestation by her father. The poems reveal the internal voices Hagit discovers on the journey: the damaged baby who retreats from the world; the vengeful sixteen-year-old who uses writing as a weapon; the self-doubting woman who demands proof; and the angry chorus who refuse to make peace. The journey continues in the voice of a woman who gradually accepts her vulnerabilities.
While these poems serve as a voice for survivors, they also illuminate the intense and lasting effects of abuse, and have deservedly drawn the attention of Israeli mental health professionals and assistance centers for victims of sexual abuse
The Sea Is Your Witness (Pardes Publishing 2016)
Hagit Vardi’s fourth book, The Sea Is Your Witness, closes the tetralogy of her poetry collections, dealing with her own process of healing. This is a book of Tikun (repair), where Vardi goes through the acts of tearing down the masks (“I Will not Use Scissors”), uncovering the lies (“Open the Closet”), and putting the shame and the blame where they belong (״Handing Back the Ball of Shame”) – in the hands of the perpetrator.
When the Moon Listened (Pardes Publishing 2022)
In her fifth collection of poems, When the Moon Listened, Hagit Vardi opens a new era of her writing. Vardi, who is using different mind-body modalities in her quest to help others, has collected poems that emerged during meditation used in distance healing. These poems no longer deal with her own doubts, anguish, and healing. Instead, they were inspired by those she helped, and in numerous instances they played a role in their healing process.
