A haiku, an ode, a sonnet, a limerick, an elegy ... more poetry,please.
Poetry Books
Flapjack Press Psycho Seagulls Stole My Dog
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£12.30
Pan Macmillan Mean Time
Book SynopsisIn her prize-winning fourth collection, Mean Time, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy dramatizes scenes from childhood, adolescence and adulthood, finding moments of grace or consolation in memory, love and language amid the complexities of life. These are powerful poems of loss, betrayal and desire.Trade ReviewCarol Ann Duffy is the most humane and accessible poet of our time * Guardian *Duffy is magnificent, grounded, heartfelt, dedicated to the notion that poetry can give us the music of life itself * Scotsman *Carol Ann Duffy is one of the freshest and bravest talents to emerge in British poetry - any poetry - for years. Her project is both subtle and experimental... a contemporary woman poet whose poetic register reaches all the way from a subversive eroticism to a self-conscious regionalism...This new book contains wonderful poems, which extend her lyric range. * Independent *
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Advent Street
Book SynopsisIn this enchantingly illustrated Christmas poem, Carol Ann Duffy invites readers to open the windows on Advent Street. In each one is a gift. You may find yourself back-straight watching a ballerina, poised to begin, or catch your lips moving in time with a festive song that drifts out into the night. Whatever the surprise, when the curtains draw back and the lights sharpen, Duffy’s beguiling words, paired with captivating illustrations from Yelena Bryksenkova, call you inside to feel the warmth.
£9.49
Creative Company,US Mother Winter
Book SynopsisA poetic personification of the winter season, Mother Winter goes walking "on the longest cold night," inviting the reader along to experience chill winds, icy ponds, white snowdrifts, and other quiet wonders.
£9.49
Pushkin Press White Teeth Red Blood
Book SynopsisPoems to make your blood run cold. Poems to make your heart beat faster. Poems to sink your teeth into... Three centuries of vampiric verse. Seductively sinister, both frightening and alluring, the undead have always been the perfect vessel for humanity's fears and desires. The poems in this collection of dark delights range across centuries and languages; poems that tell stories, offer warnings, and imagine life in the shadows, by writers such as Lord Byron, Emily Dickinson, Charles Baudelaire, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Ishmael Reed, and many more. With an introduction by Claire Kohda, author of Woman, Eating. Contents include:Chilling Tales - poems by Gottfried August Burger, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Robert Southey, Anne Bannerman, John Stagg, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Rafael CampoDire Warnings - poems by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, John Keats, Henry Thomas Liddell, James Clerk Maxwell, Charles Baudelaire, Christina Rossetti, Madison Julius Cawein, Rudyard Kipling, Conrad Aiken, Edna St Vincent Millay, James Weldon JohnsonThe Vampire Within - poems by Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Emily Brontë, Emily Dickinson, Walter Pater, Delmira Agustini, William Butler Yeats, Ishmael Reed, Dorothy Barresi, John Yau
£16.58
Carcanet Press Ltd Collected Poems: Gillian Clarke
Book SynopsisThe Welsh publishing house Gwasg Gomer published Gillian Clarke's first full collection of poems, The Sundial, in 1978. In the twenty years since then the poet has become one of the best-loved and most widely read writers of Wales, well-known for her readings, for her radio work and her workshops. Gillian Clarke is a severe critic of her own poemsCollected Poems includes all that she wishes to preserve of her work to date."
£13.49
Sidekick Books Ten Poets Get to the Bottom of Some Grisly Crimes
Book SynopsisTen poems. Ten poets. Ten deadly and desperate deeds uncovered.
£8.82
Sidekick Books Ten Poets Charm the Pants Off Ten Historical
Book SynopsisTen poems. Ten poets. Ten sensational acts of seduction.
£8.82
Arc Publications Twenty Poems
Book SynopsisThis bilingual (German / English) chapbook of 20 poems makes for an exciting introduction to Kathrin Schmidt's work. Thanks to Sue Vickerman's daring translations, we are able to appreciate Schmidt's irrepressible poetic style as she ranges across the themes of gender, identity, the body, eroticism, her own personal history and language itself.
£6.65
Renard Press Ltd The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy
Book SynopsisThe Importance of Being Earnest is perhaps Oscar Wilde’s most popular play – since its first performance in 1895, it has seen countless productions and three film adaptations, and, in the words of the journalist Mark Lawson, is ‘the second most known and quoted play in English after Hamlet’. Brimming with the counter-intuitive wit with which Wilde’s name is synonymous, the play follows two young men, Algernon and Jack, as they come to grips with one another’s ‘Bunburying’ – deceits involving invented identities and escaping unwanted socialising – which spiral out of control. Culminating in a hauntingly brilliant scene with a cast of characters dripping with satire, an unpublished manuscript and an unforgettable handbag, The Importance of Being Earnest lambasts the Victorian yearning for morality and meaning, and leaves the reader aching for an encore.Trade Review'A deliciously witty play about dual identities, Victorian mores and an unforgettable handbag.' (The Guardian) 'An extraordinarily illuminating intellect.' (William Rothenstein) 'If I craved for entertaining conversation by a first-class raconteur, I should choose Oscar Wilde.' (George Bernard Shaw)Table of ContentsThe Importance of Being Earnest, Note on the Text, Notes, Extra Material: A Brief Introduction to Oscar Wilde, More Information about Oscar Wilde
£7.99
Fox & Ink Books All of My Days
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£12.34
Andrews McMeel Publishing The Quiet After
£14.24
Andrews McMeel Publishing Inward
Book Synopsis “i closed my eyes to look inward and found a universe waiting to be explored” From poet, meditator, and speaker Yung Pueblo, comes a collection of poetry and prose that explores the movement from self-love to unconditional love, the power of letting go, and the wisdom that comes when we truly try to know ourselves. It serves as a reminder to the reader that healing, transformation, and freedom are possible.
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Much Ado About Nothing
Book SynopsisMuch Ado About Nothing presents a battle of the sexes in more ways than one: as both a lightning-fast skirmish of wits between two famously disputatious lovers, and a near-deadly conflict built on conventions of gender and male rivalry. Claire McEachern''s new introduction brings this best-seller right up to date, analysing recent developments in criticism and the latest productions of this comedy.Trade ReviewClaire McEachern’s revised edition of Much Ado about Nothing updates the original introductory material with incisive discussions of gender dynamics, formal and structural characteristics, and stage history. * Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *Table of ContentsList of illustrations General editors' preface Preface Introduction Much Ado About Nothing Appendix Abbreviations and References Index
£10.90
Yale University Press Enheduana
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£14.99
Vintage Publishing The Collected Poems
Book SynopsisRobert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874. After the death of his father he moved with his mother and sister to Massachusetts. His first collection, A Boy's Will, was published in 1913. In 1924 he won the first of four Pulitzer Prizes for his fourth book, New Hampshire. In the 1930s, as he became ever more revered, he suffered a series of family tragedies: his youngest child Marjorie died in 1934, his wife Elinor in 1938, and his son Carol in 1940. Another daughter, Irma, suffered from mental illness. Frost's last major collection, A Witness Tree (1942), contains a number of poems reflecting these disasters. In 1957 Robert Frost received honorary degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He died in January 1963.Trade ReviewThe most eminent, the most distinguished Anglo-American poet now living -- T. S. EliotFrost was the first American poet who could honestly be reckoned a master-poet by world standards -- Robert GravesRobert Frost has passed into the poetic pantheon * Independent *Of all the poetry written in our generation, Frost's is most likely to stand the test of time * Lewis Gannett *
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays
Book SynopsisThe crowning plays of one of Ireland's most heralded artistsOscar Wilde was at once a family man and a homosexual outsider, a socialite, socialist, and Irish nationalist. His contradictions inspired him to ponder the roles and masks donned in conventional society, and his acute and wry insights are wonderfully displayed in this collection of his essential plays. Known not only for his brilliant, epigrammatic language, but also for his sense of theatrical design, color, and staging, Wilde created an enduring body of finely crafted works, whose delights and ironies still speak to modern audiences. In addition to Lady Windermere's Fan, Salomé, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, A Florentine Tragedy, and The Importance of Being Earnest, this edition contains an introduction, notes and commentaries, and an excised scene from The Importance of Being Earnest.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Poetry Prescription Wild Remedy
Book SynopsisA small but significant, inspiring anthology from Deborah Alma, the founder of the Poetry Pharmacy.
£8.54
Flapjack Press Slim Volume
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£7.50
Union Square & Co. Romeo and Juliet No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe
Book SynopsisWhy fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, this popular guide makes Shakespeare accessible to everyone. And now it features expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter.
£9.49
Poetry Wales Press Last Poem for Sarah: And Other Poems
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£6.00
Random House I Do Know Some Things
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£11.69
Vintage Publishing A Year of Last Things
Book SynopsisMichael Ondaatje is the author of seven novels; a memoir, Running in the Family; a non-fiction book on film, The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film; and several books of poetry, including The Cinnamon Peeler and Handwriting. The English Patient received the Booker Prize in 1992 and the Golden Man Booker in 2018, and was made into a film directed by Anthony Minghella. Anil's Ghost was awarded the Irish Times International Fiction Prize, the Giller Prize and the Prix Médicis. Born in Sri Lanka, Michael Ondaatje lives in Toronto.
£13.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Infernal World Of Branwell Bronte
Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA'Daphne du Maurier has no equal' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Miss du Maurier has brought to the art of the biography the narrative urgency' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ' . . . she is unravelling a long distorted mystery' KIRKUS REVIEWS Pursued by the twin demons of drink and madness, Branwell Bronte created a private world that was indeed infernal. As a bold and gifted child, his promise seemed boundless to the three adoring sisters over whom his rule was complete. But as an adult, the precocious flame of genius distorted and burned low. With neither the strength nor the resources to counter rejection, unable to sell his paintings or publish his books, Branwell became a spectre in the Bronte story, in pathetic contrast with the astonishing achievements of Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Daphne du Maurier concentrates all her biographer's skill on the shadowy figure of Branwell Bronte. No reader could fail to be intensely moved by Branwell's final retreat into laudanum, alcohol and death. Trade ReviewMiss du Maurier has brought to the art of the biography the narrative urgency which gives such animation to her storytelling * New York Times Book Review *Daphne du Maurier has no equal * Daily Telegraph *Her craftsmanship has made of the material something more than a case of literary research; almost one feels that she is unravelling a long distorted mystery * Kirkus Reviews *
£10.44
Nick Hern Books The Playboy of the Western World
Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price J.M. Synge's extraordinary play about a young man on the run, and his unexpected elevation to folk hero. A stranger, Christy Mahon, arrives in a village bar in County Mayo in the West of Ireland, claiming to have killed his father. The locals are impressed – some can even directly relate to the deed – and Christy is lauded as a folk hero. He can't believe his luck, and confidently pursues the affections of the barmaid Pegeen, until the arrival of his not-so-dead father takes the winds out of Christy's sails... The Playboy of the Western World was first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in January 1907, causing riots across the city. This edition of the play, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is introduced by Margaret Llewllyn Jones.
£6.23
Country Books MIXED FRUIT FROM A SUSSEX TREE: ASPECTS OF JOHN
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£15.00
Salmon Poetry An Unfinished Sufficiency
Book Synopsis
£9.00
Eyewear Publishing Wild Swimming at Scarweather Sands
Book SynopsisRobert Minhinnick is a Welsh poet exploring the coves and caves of his home town, recalling its history, aware of its dangers. With ?Wild Swimming at Scarweather Sands?, he remembers the countless wrecks on the dangerous coast of south Wales. Visiting the shoreline of his home he discovers a world where both history and climate change are inescapable.
£8.54
Valley Press Beginnings & Other Tragedies
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£11.69
Nine Arches Press Mingle
Book SynopsisCaleb Parkin's dark and mischievous second collection Mingle stirs up the toxicities between landscapes and bodies, in poems bubbling with the intoxications of hyper-wealth and climate nationalism.
£10.79
Parthian Books Graveyards On Other Planets
£9.50
Chartwell Books The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
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£13.49
SelfMadeHero Romeo and Juliet
Book SynopsisShakespeare''s famous tragedy unfurls in front of a dramatic manga setting, in which the fair city of Verona becomes a street in the highly fashionable Shibuya district of Tokyo.The swordfights become duals with katanas; the Capulets and the Montagues, opposing Yakuza families. Conflict explodes when Romeo - a bleached-blonde, well-dressed rock star - falls in love with Juliet, the pure and innocent Capulet daughter.
£9.49
Samuel French Ltd The Wipers Times
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£14.42
Penguin Books Ltd Much Ado About Nothing Penguin Classics
Book Synopsis''We go to Shakespeare to find out about ourselves'' Jeanette WintersonBeatrice and Benedick both claim they are determined never to marry. But when their friends trick them into believing that each harbours secret feelings for the other, the pair begin to question whether their witty banter and verbal sparring conceal something deeper. Schemes abound, dangerous misunderstandings proliferate and matches are eventually made in this dazzling, dark-edged comedy of mature love and second chances. Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by R. A. FoakesIntroduction by Janette DillonTrade ReviewPraise for William Shakespeare: Complete Works:“A feast of literary and historical information.” —The Wall Street Journal
£7.59
Penguin Books Ltd The Complete Poems
Book SynopsisAs a diplomat in Renaissance Europe, and a luminary at the court of Henry VII, Sir Thomas Wyatt wrote in an incestuous world where everyone was uneasily subject to the royal whims and rages. Wyatt had himself survived two imprisonments in the Tower as well as a love affair with Anne Boleyn, and his poetry - that of an extraordinarily sophisticated, passionate and vulnerable man - reflects these experiences, making disguised reference to current political events. Above all, though, Wyatt is known for his love poetry, which often dramatizes incidents and remembered conversations with his beloved, with an ear acutely sensitive to patterns of rhythm and colloquial speech. Conveying the actuality of betrayal or absence, and the intense pressure of his longing for a love that could be trusted, these are some of the most haunting poems in the English language.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Selected Poems Donne
Book SynopsisShowcasing the creative power of one of the most outstanding English Metaphysical Poets, the Penguin Classics edition of John Donne''s Selected Poems includes an introduction and notes by Ilona Bell.Regarded by many as the greatest of the Metaphysical poets, John Donne was also among the most intriguing figures of the Renaissance. A sensualist who composed erotic and playful love poetry in his youth, he was raised a Catholic but later became one of the most admired Protestant preachers of his time. The Selected Poems reflects this wide diversity, and includes his youthful Songs and Sonnets, epigrams, elegies, letters, satires, and the profoundly moving Divine Poems composed towards the end of his life. From joyful poems such as ''The Flea'', which transforms the image of a louse into something marvellous, to the intimate and intense Holy Sonnets, Donne breathed new vigour into poetry by drawing lucid and often startling metaphors from the world in which he lived. His
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Is This a Dagger Which I See Before Me
Book Synopsis''And when I shall die,Take him and cut him out in little stars.''This collection of Shakespeare''s soliloquies, including both old favourites and lesser-known pieces, shows him at his dazzling best.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics'' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.
£5.63
Samuel French Ltd The Zoo Story Acting Edition S
Book SynopsisA collection of some of Edward Albee''s earliest and most acclaimed works.
£12.55
Flapjack Press The First Spark Has Led To This Blaze
Book SynopsisA selection of the poems of Henry Normal. Illustrated by Pete Ramskill.
£18.00
Cambridge University Press Shakespeare and Lost Plays
Book SynopsisShakespeare and Lost Plays returns Shakespeare''s dramatic work to its most immediate and (arguably) pivotal context; by situating it alongside the hundreds of plays known to Shakespeare''s original audiences, but lost to us. David McInnis reassesses the value of lost plays in relation to both the companies that originally performed them, and to contemporary scholars of early modern drama. This innovative study revisits key moments in Shakespeare''s career and the development of his company and, by prioritising the immense volume of information we now possess about lost plays, provides a richer, more accurate picture of dramatic activity than has hitherto been possible. By considering a variety of ways to grapple with the problem of lost, imperceptible, or ignored texts, this volume presents a methodology for working with lacunae in archival evidence and the distorting effect of Shakespeare-centric narratives, thus reinterpreting our perception of the field of early modern drama.Trade Review'This is an exceptionally innovative book championing the brand new methodologies and discoveries associated with lost plays that the author and his collaborators have brought to the profession. It would be hard to think of a more groundbreaking work than this, and it will be necessary reading for all scholars of early modern drama, any cultural historians who find themselves confronting the issue of evidential loss, as well as students of these various fields.' Andy Kesson, University of Roehampton, London'This is a well-conceived, skilfully argued, and constantly astonishing book. Its object is to insist on the importance of a study of lost plays so as better to understand the canonical plays we have been too complacent about. It will impact substantially on Shakespeare studies, on Early Modern theatre studies more widely, on authorship determination, and on more general literary and historical studies. Shakespeare and Lost Plays is an outstanding publication.' David Carnegie, Victoria University of Wellington'A fascinating work of literary detection.' Gordon Parsons, Morning Star'The moments of brilliant speculation about enigmas such as Spanish Maze and Felmelanco are the heart of McInnis's work because they display not only superb research skills but also impressive synaptic leaps; at such moments, one feels one is reading both a scholar and a poet. Overall, this is a wonderful book that opens the imagination and proves the vitality and the value of the study of lost plays.' David Nicol, British Shakespeare Association's Journal'Anyone interested in researching historical writing, English or otherwise, would benefit from reading this book, to help us deal with the loss of sources, and to learn how to complicate and enrich our reading and understanding of the texts that did survive.' Sonja Kleij, English Studies'McInnis's study is generous and hopefully generative, and it deserves the kind of careful engagement it offers to its subject. McInnis sheds light on understudied plays and he finds exciting connections, never before identified, some of which in turn allow for a different perspective on individual Shakespeare plays and on his career and early afterlife. But above all, McInnis models an approach to scholarship that promises to yield further insights. This refreshing book, which balances meticulous attention to detail with imagination and creativity, deserves to be widely read.' Eoin Price, Early Theatre'The potential impact of McInnis's ground-breaking study is unlikely to be lost on readers … Shakespeare and Lost Plays opens up numerous explorative avenues for future investigations, and I have no doubt that it will be preserved in the annals of academic history as a seminal work' Jones, Bücherschau'This is a productive and helpful enterprise, which McInnis reaches through a series of skillful, careful, and innovative readings … This refreshing book, which balances meticulous attention to detail with imagination and creativity, deserves to be widely read. That the book is relatively inexpensive for a new academic hardback should help it get the attention it deserves.' Eoin Price, Early TheatreTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Charting the landscape of loss; 2. Early Shakespeare: 1594-98; 3. Shakespeare at the turn of the century, 1599-1603; 4. Courting controversy: Shakespeare and the king's men, 1604-08; 5. Late Shakespeare: 1609-13; 6. Loose canons: the lost Shakespeare apocrypha; Conclusion.
£31.49
Orion Publishing Co Fierce Fairytales
Book SynopsisFor readers who enjoyed Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, this empowering collection of stories, poems and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations gives Once Upon a Time a much-needed modern makeover. Gone are the gender stereotypes of obliging lovers, violent men and girls that need rescuing. Instead, lines blur between heroes and villains and you''ll meet brave princesses, a new kind of wolf lurking in the concrete jungle and a courageous Gretel who can bring down monsters on her own.
£11.69
Manchester University Press Shakespeare's Cinema of Love: A Study in Genre
Book SynopsisThis engaging and stimulating book argues that Shakespeare's plays significantly influenced movie genres in the twentieth century, particularly in films concerning love in the classic Hollywood period. Shakespeare's 'green world' has a close functional equivalent in 'tinseltown' and on 'the silver screen', as well as in hybrid genres in Bollywood cinema. Meanwhile, Romeo and Juliet continues to be an enduring source for romantic tragedy on screen. The nature of generic indebtedness has not gained recognition because it is elusive and not always easy to recognise. The book traces generic links between Shakespeare's comedies of love and screen genres such as romantic comedy, 'screwball' comedy and musicals, as well as clarifying the use of common conventions defining the genres, such as mistaken identity, 'errors', disguise and 'shrew-taming'. This challenging and entertaining book will appeal to those interested in Shakespeare, movies and the representation of love in narratives.Trade Review‘R.S. White’s timely book on the influence of Shakespeare on Hollywood cinema offers a refreshing account of the ‘contestatory and symbiotic’ relationship between Shakespeare’s generic innovations and the development of cinematic genres in early Hollywood.’ David McInnis, Australian Book Review June 2017 -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Shakespeare shaping modern movie genres1.'Madly mated': The Taming of the Shrew and odd-couple comedy2. Dreams in the forest: romantic comedy3. 'The guy's only doing it for some doll': musical comedy4. Of errors and Eros: a brief digression on twins5. Comedy of disguise and mistaken identity6. 'Star-crossed lovers': Romeo and Juliet and romantic tragedyConclusionBibliographyIndex
£17.85
Bloodaxe Books Ltd Life Immediately
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£11.69
Nine Arches Press Unwritten: Caribbean Poems After the First World
Book SynopsisWith contributions from Jay Bernard, Malika Booker, Kat Francois, Jay T. John, Anthony Joseph, Ishion Hutchinson, Charnell Lucien, Vladimir Lucien, Rachel Manley, Tanya Shirley and Karen McCarthy Woolf. What does it mean to fight for a ‘mother country’ that refuses to accept you as one of its own? Britain’s First World War poets changed the way we view military conflict and had a deep impact on the national psyche. Yet the stories of the 15,600 volunteers who signed up to the British West Indian Regiment remain largely unknown. Sadly, these citizens of empire were not embraced as compatriots on an equal footing. Instead they faced prejudice, injustice and discrimination while being confined to menial and auxiliary work, regardless of rank or status. As a collaborative project, co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW, BBC Contains Strong Language and the British Council, Unwritten Poems invited contemporary Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora poets to write into that vexed space, and explore the nature of war and humanity – as it exists now, and at a time when Britain’s colonial ambitions were still at a peak. Unwritten: Caribbean Poems After the First World War is a result of that provocation and also includes new material written for broadcast and live performance.
£13.49
Burning Eye Books Solastalgia
Book SynopsisIn his second poetry collection Solastalgia, Irish poet Ciarán Hodgers explores the intersection of environment and mental health. Considering the effects of climate change on the wellbeing of our world and ourselves, this exploration of ecopsychology asks what it means, how it feels and how to be in relation to the more-than-human world. Punctuated throughout by counselling ‘sessions’, this book holds up to the light a processes of healing, both ourselves and the planet, through exercises in reciprocity. It asks what a tree can teach us about grief; how evolutionary biology might support the counselling process; what the water cycle can teach us about time; how autumn can make us reconsider lost friendship and how a mountain might help us overcome trauma. Moving out from the individual, it considers geopolitical history and cultural perspectives on climate change, and seeks to move beyond present restrictions and creatively engage in the notion of the symbiocene. Celebrating the resilience, tenderness and connection between the human and more-than-human worlds, this collection holds space for the deep emotional response to the climate crisis, helps us find more commonality with the world, challenges us to think of a way through the immediate and galvanises us toward action against the most pressing issue that has ever faced the planet.Trade ReviewOne of the region’s most exciting spoken word performers - The Independent
£9.49
Nick Hern Books Angels in America
Book SynopsisAmerica in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. Originally premiered in Britain at the National Theatre, London, where it won the Evening Standard Best Play Award, Tony Kushner's Angels in America went on to win two Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This volume contains both Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika, plus 45 pages of bonus material including a new introduction by the playwright, a full production history, deleted scenes, and notes on staging. It was published alongside a new production in 2017 at the National Theatre, London, directed by Marianne Elliott and starring Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough, Nathan Lane, James McArdle and Russell Tovey.Trade Review'The finest drama of our time, speaking to us of an entire era of life and death as no other play within memory. In its sweep and imagination, it defines the collapse of a moral universe during the Reagan years in an unforgettable way, transcending its specific time in the richness of its portrait of an America Lost, perhaps to be regained... It's a pretty funny play, too. How we still need it! It ranks as nothing less than one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century' * New York Observer *'A true theatrical epic… Kushner’s writing dazzles. Its sheer imaginative reach can be exhilarating and it’s studded with devilish humour. Instead of appearing dated, it seems pointedly topical in its scrutiny of intolerance, immigration, religious values and national ideals' * Evening Standard *'A start-to-finish sensation… the core themes, about the price paid for denial, and the cost of change and acceptance, the end-times sense of foreboding many feel about the state of the planet too, still pulse with urgency; the emotions sear afresh' * Telegraph *'The scope and vision are enough to make you gasp and cheer… seeing it now is like a vigorously entertaining history lesson. It is a reminder of just how terrifying and tragic the times were, of all the people who died terribly and needlessly, but also a vibrant hymn to the ragged soul of humanity itself, in all its messy, complicated imperfection… Kushner's achievement is to make his characters so compelling that the massive themes he pins around them - the relationship between man and God, the power of the numinous, the root of good and moral in a shifting, dangerous world, the role of progress and change – sit comfortably alongside the unfolding of their stories' * WhatsOnStage *'Epic in every conceivable sense of the word… though valuable as an evocative history play, Kushner's work is still a powerful call to arms. The challenges of progress, immigration and integration, prejudice, global warming, and religious and national identity are still urgent topics, here often brilliantly and waspishly articulated... a monumental achievement' * Broadway World *'Big on ideas, ambition and scope… it liberatingly plays with form: conventional scenes of domestic realism defiantly throw off those shackles with abandon to enter hallucinatory realms of fantasy, mystery and mysticism… where once it might have been stating radical positions, Angels in America now plays like a raw, truthful documentary of where we've come from, and serves as a necessary reminder of those bleak times before AIDS became a treatable disease' * The Stage *'Both a document of the Aids crisis and an enduringly relevant commentary on US politics… what really hits one is the expansiveness of Kushner’s imagination and the rich opportunities he creates for actors' * Guardian *'Probably the great American play of the late 20th century' * Time Out *'One of the greatest achievements in American theatre during the twentieth century… epic in every sense of the word… a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should not be missed' * British Theatre Guide *'An astonishing piece of theatre, madly inventive and driven by deep compassion… the portrait of a fractured America feels no less resonant today; the inquiry into where true progress lies feels no less urgent… the play’s themes emerge through a kaleidoscope of richly varied characters, all wrestling with their own angels and demons' * Financial Times *'This revival confirms its place in the pantheon of dramas that stretch toward the heavens. In the case of Angels in America, the sky is not the limit, and no work of theater since has quite matched its reach… [has] a boundless imagination and a moral rage that roam, at length and at large, where few playwrights have dared to tread… the climate of fear and anger Mr. Kushner summoned feels, if anything, even more pervasive today than it did when Angels first opened… Mr. Kushner's words [have] a Shavian wit and ferocity rooted in the most visceral of feelings... the heroes of Angels are human. This still-singular play fans their anger, confusion and hopefulness into a flame of genuine divinity' * New York Times *
£13.49
HarperCollins Publishers By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
Book SynopsisElizabeth Smart's passionate fictional account of her intense love-affair with the poet George Barker, described by Angela Carter as Like Madame Bovary blasted by lightening A masterpiece'.One day, while browsing in a London bookshop, Elizabeth Smart chanced upon a slim volume of poetry by George Barker and fell passionately in love with him through the printed word. Eventually they communicated directly and, as a result of Barker's impecunious circumstances, Elizabeth Smart flew both him and his wife from Japan, where he was teaching, to join her in the United States. Thus began one of the most extraordinary, intense and ultimately tragic love affairs of our time. They never married but Elizabeth bore George Barker four children and their relationship provided the impassioned inspiration for one of the most moving and immediate chronicles of a love affair ever written By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.Originally published in 1945, this remarkable book is now widely identTrade Review‘Like Madame Bovary blasted by lightening … A masterpiece.’ Angela Carter ‘At some point every good reader comes across By Grand Central Station I sat Down and Wept. And he or she recognises an emotion essential and permanent to us.’ Michael Ondaatje ‘A revelation…This short, powerful work has a profound influence on me and was one of the factors that made me want to be a writer.’ Beryl Bainbridge ‘I doubt if there are more than half a dozen such masterpieces of poetic prose in the world.’ Brigid Brophy ‘Explores a passion between a man and two women, one of them his wife – a love despairing and triumphant upon which the reader may gaze, awed, appalled, or even, perhaps, envious.’ The Times ‘Few writers have ever captured the full honesty of what passion means as shockingly and as piercingly as Smart. Today, its force still strikes us hard in the face, a beautiful and bloody blow.’ Lesley McDowell, Independent on Sunday ‘Constructed as a single, sustained climax, it is like a cry of ecstasy which, without changing volume or pitch, becomes a cry of agony.’ Spectator ‘The emotion, the truth and abject affliction comes through…to move the reader, and even to awe him.’ London Review of Books
£9.49
