Brahna Yassky
writer and painter
Brahna Yassky has been an established part of the New York art scene since 1980.
Her first book, Slow Dancing with Fire...a memoir of resilience was published in May 2022.
Photo: Georges Piette
“Brahna Yassky was a promising young artist when a devastating accident nearly destroyed her life. Slow Dancing with Fire is a moving and profoundly creative journey toward healing,
renewal and joy.”
- Dawn Raffel author of The Secret Life of Objects and The Strange Case of Dr.Couney
“A brave and compelling memoir, a testimony to the human spirit, brought vividly to life by the author’s artistic eye. You will feel better and stronger for having read it."
-Jonathan Santlofer, best selling author of The Death Artist and The Last Mona Lisa
“This profoundly moving, beautifully written memoir tells the story of a gifted American painter’s trial by fire and emergence from her dark night of the soul into a new way of seeing. A meditation on mortality, creativity and the cult of beauty. Slow Dancing with Fire will renew your faith in the power of the human spirit to prevail through great pain and emerge victorious.”
- Mark Matousek author of Sex Death Enlightenment and When You’re Falling Dive
"Passionate and wise, Slow Dancing with Fire is a testament to the power of love, evoking a New York when it seemed anything was possible. Brahna Yassky became an early member of one of the most significant art collectives (the Guerrilla Girls) of the last century. What an amazing life.”
- Nick Flynn, author of This Is The Night Our house Will Catch Fire
Interested in Purchasing Slow Dancing With Fire?
Check out the links below or order at your local indie bookstore!
Reviews
"Sometimes it takes reading about other people's resilience to recognize your own."
- Brevity Magazine
Slow Dancing with Fire: a memoir of resilience
launched MAY 3RD 2022
A memoir of the healing power of art, love, and swimming
In "Slow Dancing with Fire", Yassky traces her emotional and physical healing process in the burn unit and during physical and occupational therapy for an additional year. Earning her credentials as an art therapist, while still an outpatient, she found that all art is therapeutic and helping others heal through the creative process lifts her as well. To overcome the trauma and its consequences, she built a new life through the intertwining of art, love, and swimming, questioning and discovering expanded priorities and unexpected collaborations.
In a topsy turvy world, when people are questioning how they want to live, her story encourages everyone to believe that do-overs are possible, while addressing the universal issues of beauty, identity and visibility vs. invisibility.
Slow Dancing with Fire won honorable mention for the 2018 Doheny Prize at The Center For Fiction, NYC
