A haiku, an ode, a sonnet, a limerick, an elegy ... more poetry,please.
Poetry Books
Pan Macmillan When It Rained for a Million Years
Book SynopsisPaul Farley was born in Liverpool in 1965 and studied at the Chelsea School of Art. He has published six collections of poetry with Picador. His other books include Edgelands (with Michael Symmons Roberts, 2011), and he has also edited a selection of John Clare's poetry. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a frequent broadcaster, he has received numerous awards including Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, the Whitbread Poetry Prize and the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. When It Rained For a Million Years is his sixth collection.
£11.69
Cybirdy Publishing Limited Book of Poetry
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£12.59
Flapjack Press Now and Then
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£17.05
Out-Spoken Press Jabez Incarnate
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£7.60
Pan Macmillan Plum
Book SynopsisA wise, rude, sharp poetry collection encompassing a life from childhood to attempted adulthood, from one of the most important poets of the new generation.'She writes with honesty, conviction, humour and love. She points out the absurdities we've grown too used to and lets us see the world with fresh eyes.' – Kae TempestHollie McNish, winner of the Ted Hughes Award for Poetry, has thrilled and entranced audiences the length and breadth of the UK with her compelling and powerful performances. Plum, her debut for Picador Poetry, is a wise, sometimes rude and piercingly candid account of her memories from childhood to attempted adulthood. This is a book about growing up, about flesh, fruit, friendships, work and play – and the urgent need to find a voice for the poems that will somehow do the whole glorious riot of it justice.Throughout Plum, McNish allows her recent poems to be interrupted by earlier writing from her younger selves – voices that speak out from the past with disarming and often very funny results. Plum is a celebration, a salute to a life in which we are always growing, stumbling, falling, changing and discovering new selves to add to our own messy store. It will leave the reader in no doubt as to why McNish is considered one of the most important poets of the new generation.Trade ReviewPlum is certainly brave...The poems are refreshingly funny, angry, contemplative and personal. A sense of wanting the world to be a better place shines out. * The Telegraph *She writes with honesty, conviction, humour and love. She points out the absurdities we've grown too used to and lets us see the world with fresh eyes -- Kate TempestHer rhymes have a driving quality, urgent words pinning down fleeting feelings * Observer *The acclaimed Hollie McNish’s Plum immediately establishes an intimacy between the poet and the reader. A collection recounting McNish’s memories of growing up, Plum is charismatic for its revelations of warmth; hilarious and moving. Frank, rude, and innocent, this likeable voice makes for an entertaining read. * Poetry Book Society *‘[Plum] proves poet’s voice is one that needs to be heard…she continues to let it all hang out in fearless and often amusing style.Much of what McNish has to say urgently needs saying’ * The Scotsman *
£10.44
Smokestack Books Chagall's Moon
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£7.59
Smokestack Books The Love Songs of Late Capitalism
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£8.54
Michael O'Mara Books Ltd The Emergency Poet
Book SynopsisWe all have moments in which life can feel overwhelming. This book presents a selection of poems that is designed to lift your mood.
£11.69
Flame Tree Publishing Greek Ancient Origins: Stories Of People &
Book SynopsisGorgeous Collector's Edition. The period of the first Ancient Greek peoples, the Mycenaean civilization, from the 1700s BCE, through to the Greek Dark Ages and the rise of Classical Antiquity more than a thousand years later is one of profound significance for Western modes of thought. The first cities, works of art, the stories of Olympic Gods and heroic warriors in classical literature find their origins in the traditions of this era. This new book is the perfect companion to Greek Myths & Legends in the same series of beautiful Collector's Editions, and sits alongside the other great cultures of the early world. Flame Tree Collector's Editions present the foundations of speculative fiction: authors, myths, tales and history without which the imaginative literature of the twentieth century would not exist, bringing the best, most influential and most fascinating works into a striking and collectable library. Each book features a new Introduction and a Glossary of Terms or lists of Ancient Leaders.
£10.44
Renard Press Ltd A Quarter Dead and Half Alive
Book SynopsisA prolific and widely published Irish poet, Steve's seventh collection builds on the strength of his previous works, in which everyday experiences and the profound sit side by side with the joys of the creative arts and the darker side to life on Planet Earth.
£9.50
Pushkin Press Out of Chaos Comes Bliss
Book SynopsisDylan Thomas is one of most beloved poets of the twentieth century. Richly melodious and expressive, Thomas's poems strike to the heart of eternal themes of living and dying, of childhood days lost and the vigorous beauty of nature. With restless creativity, he made the English language anew and his work inspired countless artists from Igor Stravinsky to Bob Dylan. In this new selection, Cerys Matthews brings together poems from across Thomas's career - including some of his very earliest works - to showcase the blossoming of his singular poetic voice. Full of lush imagery and unforgettable lines, this is the perfect introduction to a remarkable writer.
£11.69
Wordsworth Editions Ltd A Midsummer Night's Dream (Collector's Edition)
Book SynopsisIts lyricism, comedy (both broad and subtle) and magical transformations have long made A Midsummer Night’s Dream one of the most popular of Shakespeare’s works. The supernatural and the mundane, the illusory and the substantial, are all shimmeringly blended. Love is treated as tragic, poignant, absurd and farcical. ‘Lord, what fools these mortals be!’, jeers Robin Goodfellow; but the joke may be on him and on his master Oberon when Bottom the weaver, his head transformed into that of an ass, is embraced by the voluptuously amorous Titania. Recent stage-productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream have emphasised the enchanting, spectacular, ambiguous and erotically joyous aspects of this magical drama which culminates in a multiple celebration of marriage.
£8.54
WORDSWORTH First World War Poetry
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£6.36
Alma Books Ltd Leaves of Grass: Annotated Edition (Great Poets
Book SynopsisFirst published in 1855 and extended by the author over the course of more than three decades, Leaves of Grass embodies Walt Whitman’s lifetime ambition to create a new voice that could capture the spirit and vibrancy of the young American nation, while celebrating at the same time “Nature without check with original energy”. Famously written in free verse and brimming with sensuous imagery and an unbridled love of nature and life in all its forms, and containing celebrated poems such as the ebullient ‘Song of Myself’ – described by Jay Parini as the greatest American poem ever written – and the elegiac ‘When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d’, Leaves of Grass is not only the finest achievement of a highly unique poet, but a founding text for American literature and modern poetry. Considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and a pioneer of free verse, Walt Whitman (1819–92) was also a prolific writer of essays and articles. Controversial in its time, his sprawling collection Leaves of Grass is regarded as his magnum opus.Trade ReviewWhitman, the great poet, has meant so much to me. Whitman the one man breaking a way ahead. Whitman the one pioneer… Ahead of Whitman, nothing. Ahead of all poets, pioneering into the wilderness of unopened life, Whitman. Beyond him, none. -- D.H. Lawrence
£8.54
Batsford 100 Poems to Help You Heal
Book Synopsis A handy poetry companion to keep around in times of difficulty. This supportive anthology of 100 specially chosen poems is here to help. Whatever the shape of your struggle, there''s a poem here to guide you through it, providing a shoulder to cry on or a helping hand. There are meditations on the nature of life, grief, and memory, and how the fabric of life and death weave together. Poets young and old, classic and contemporary, give their perspectives on loss all across the spectrum of love, from pets to partners to abstract ideas. This collection of poems includes the likes of Rupi Kaur''s impactful brevity, Shakespeare''s timeless observations, Maya Angelou''s thoughtful philosophising, and much much more. You can trust in the poetry of some of the brightest and most sensitive minds throughout history to reach out to you through your feelings to offer you relief and understanding in confusing times. Following on from 100 Happy Poems and 100 Poems to Help You Sleep, this is a collection of poems that will help you feel a little less alone in your time of need.
£11.69
Candlestick Press Christmas Stocking: Five Festive Poems for
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£7.41
Candlestick Press Christmas Lights: Ten Poems for Dark Winter
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£7.41
Istros Books My Rivers
Book Synopsis'My Rivers' is an event in four cycles: The Loire, The Spree, The Drina and the Beyond the River. The book includes different poetic forms, from long narrative poems to free verse/flash fiction. The style is never overly strict in form, as Sehic always wants this work to be as clear and understandable as possible. It deals with themes of post-war reality and the culture of remembrance in a wider context, along with the tragedy of the Bosnian war seen through larger conflicts and the greater tragedies of the two world wars. The book seeks catharsis, to the extent to which it is possible in a post-conflict society like Bosnia, along with universal themes of intimacy, love, freedom.Trade Review'Sehic's fine eye for detail serves to aestheticize atrocity without ever fetishizing it . . Brilliant, insightful, poetic, and breath-taking" LA Review of Books; "Through his exploration of war and peace, innocence and grief, Sehic has composed a humbling meditation on an existential conundrum that is central to collective and private trauma, but also to more ordinary human experience: how to keep the inner self whole in a world that will assault it in unimaginable ways." Kapka Kassabova, The Guardian
£11.69
Eyewear Publishing My Little Book Of Exiles
Book SynopsisThe poems of My Little Book of Exiles sift through layers of diaspora and return, wrestling with the twin experiences of exile and separation. The diasporas of the collection take place in history, family, and the privacy of a mind as it navigates its daily work. In a set of Labor Poems, Alter captures moments of working in the snow of Wisconsin, under floodlights on the Kenai bay of Alaska, or in themachine-roar of construction sites in the Bay Area, where he has worked for two decades as an electrician. Another set of poems confront the vision of the Jewish people''s homecoming to their ancestral land. A philosopher of the "religion of labor"; and an assassinated Prime Minister are some of the figures which weave in with intimate histories of heartbreak and hope.Coming from a home where the Hebrew Bible was a book of bedtime stories, Alter's work is in conversation with texts as varied as the Hebrew Psalms, the poetry of John Keats and Ezra Pound and the songs of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley.The collection concludes with poems exploring the homeland of family made through marriage and fatherhood, the strains and moments of grace that come with them. What can withstand the pressures of distance, the forces from outside and inside that want to pull us apart? The book's strands weave a tapestry of hope even as the poems seek to discover finally what lasts.
£9.89
Candlestick Press Christmas Walk: Twelve Poems for Rosy Cheeks
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£7.41
Verve Poetry Press dance as if
£8.54
Crumps Barn Studio A Chair at the Cafe: a journey in verse filled
Book Synopsis"I see the hut, its weathered state a focus for an artist's eye; worn and brown amid white-gold sand, a shape to break blue sea and sky ..." Cumbria, Spain, Devon and France - a beautiful poetry collection written on location. Hilda Cochrane sets out on a journey filled with humour and a magical sense of place.
£7.59
Crumps Barn Studio Home Ground: mystery and magic, short stories and
Book SynopsisTrolls and pookas, wild woodlands and fairy meadows. A dollhouse with secrets within its rooms. A holiday cottage comes with a ghostly guest, and walkers awake an ancient myth. Then a child finds an unusual excuse for missing homework, before an artwork unravels, and a wild garden cultivates a few surprises ... Full of the mysterious and the gothic, myths and memoir, this is a captivating and intriguing anthology of short stories and poetry inspired by the magic within a landscape the author knows well. An original collection by: Diana Alexander, Patrick Booth, Amaris Chase, Stephen Connolly, Toby Crabbe, Myles Cutler, Daphne Denley, J.J. Drover, Jenny Finch, Vicki Fletcher, Nikolina Hua, Rose Leicester, Olive Malcolm, Rebecca McDowall, Rosalind Newton, Margaret Royall, Stuart Samuel, Derek Skinner, Julie Wiltshire and Ceri Vyner, with illustrations by Lorna GrayTrade ReviewPraise for previous Crumps Barn Studio Anthologies: "Oh wow what a brilliant set of short stories and poetry ... There is a real mix of different tales" -- Five Stars; "I thoroughly enjoyed Spooky Ambiguous. I appreciated having both poems and prose, first and third person perspectives and a collection that can be dipped into or read in the order presented as I did. If like me, you view the concept of trick or treat anathema, I think you'll be missing a trick if you don't treat yourself to this eclectic collection instead" -- Linda Hill, reviewer
£8.54
UEA Publishing Project Searching for Santa Claus
£14.24
Out-Spoken Press The Games
Book SynopsisThe Games is a book of play with language. In Scots and English, it mucks about with sound poetry, found poetry, computer-generated poetry, dirty poetry and others ways to blur and bust the borders of genre. Its themes are ecology, power and sex: how can you have fun in a system that's trying to take power away from you? The Games makes and breaks rules in an effort to live a full life in a full world.
£8.54
Smokestack Books Pastrami Faced Racist and Other Verses
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£8.54
Fingerprint! Publishing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
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£30.59
Andrews McMeel Publishing Some Things I Still Can't Tell You: Poems
Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From Misha Collins, actor, longtime poet, and activist, whose massive online following calls itself his “Army For Good," comes his debut poetry collection, Some Things I Still Can't Tell You. Trademark wit and subtle vulnerability converge in each poem; this book is both a celebration of and aspiration for a life well lived.#1 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER! USA TODAY Bestseller!This book is a compilation of small observations and musings. It's filled with moments of reflection and a love letter to simple joys: passing a simple blade of grass on the sidewalk, the freedom of peeing outdoors late at night, or the way a hand-built ceramic mug feels when it's full of warm tea on a chilly morning. It's a catalog and a compendium that examines the complicated experience of being all too human and interacting with a complex, confounding, breathtaking world ... and a reminder to stop and be awake and alive in yourself.
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Essential Bukowski Poetry
Book SynopsisThe best poet in America' Jean GenetHe brought everybody down to earth, even the angels' Leonard CohenThe definitive collection from a writer whose transgressive legacy and raw, funny, acutely observant writing has left an enduring markHere is Bukowski eating walnuts and scratching his back, rolling a cigarette while listening to Brahms, showering with Linda in the mid-afternoon.Here is Bukowski knowing that the secret is beyond him, that people who never go crazy live truly horrible lives, that there's a bluebird in his heart that wants to get out.Here is Bukowski at his most hilarious and heart-breaking, his most raw and profound; here is Bukowski at his best.Trade Review‘The best poet in America’ Jean Genet ‘He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels’ Leonard Cohen
£12.34
Union Square & Co. Julius Caesar No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student
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
Classical Comics The Tempest (Classical Comics)
Book SynopsisThis is the full play in quick modern English for a fast-paced read! Although "The Tempest" was the first play to appear in the first official Folio printing of Shakespeare's plays, it was almost certainly the last play he wrote. It held a pride of place in that first collection, presumably because the editors thought it to be his masterpiece; a crowning glory to the career of the most brightest of playwrights. Needless to say, we had to select the very best artists to do it justice, and to bring you the stunning artwork that you've come to expect from our titles. Poignant to the last, this book is a classic amongst classics.
£9.49
Faber & Faber The Poems of T. S. Eliot Volume I
Book SynopsisTo accompany Eliot's poems, Christopher Ricks and Jim McCue have provided a commentary that illuminates the creative activity that came to constitute each poem, calling upon drafts, correspondence and other original materials to provide a vivid account of the poet's working processes, his reading, his influences and his revisions.
£21.25
Pan Macmillan And So This is Christmas
Book SynopsisBrian Bilston has been described as Twitter's unofficial Poet Laureate. With over 400,000 followers on social media, Brian has become truly beloved by the online community. He has published three collections of poetry, You Took the Last Bus Home; Alexa, what is there to know about love?; and Days Like These. His novel Diary of a Somebody was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. He has also published a collection of football poetry, 50 Ways to Score a Goal, and his acclaimed poem Refugees has been made into an illustrated book for children.
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Heroides Penguin Classics xx
Book SynopsisIn the twenty-one poems of the Heroides, Ovid gave voice to the heroines and heroes of epic and myth. These deeply moving literary epistles reveal the happiness and torment of love, as the writers tell of their pain at separation, forgiveness of infidelity or anger at betrayal. The faithful Penelope wonders at the suspiciously long absence of Ulysses, while Dido bitterly reproaches Aeneas for too eagerly leaving her bed to follow his destiny, and Sappho—the only historical figure portrayed here—describes her passion for the cruelly rejecting Phaon. In the poetic letters between Paris and Helen the lovers seem oblivious to the tragedy prophesied for them, while in another exchange the youthful Leander asserts his foolhardy eagerness to risk his life to be with his beloved Hero.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 gTable of ContentsHeroidesIntroductionI: Penelope to UlyssesII: Phyllis to DemophoonIII: Briseis to AchillesIV: Phaedra to HippolytusV: Oenone to ParisVI: Hypsipyle to JasonVII: Dido to AeneasVIII: Hermione to OrestesIX: Deianira to HerculesX: Ariadne to TheseusXI: Canace to MacareusXII: Medea to JasonXIII: Laodamia to ProtesilausXIV: Hypermestra to LynceusXV: Sappho to PhaonXVI: Paris to HelenXVII: Helen to ParisXVIII: Leander to HeroXIX: Hero to LeanderXX: Acontius to CydippeXXI: Cydippe to AcontiusAppendix 1: Principal CharactersAppendix 2: Index of Names
£10.44
Simon & Schuster When Angels Speak of Love
Book SynopsisFeminist icon bell hooks reminds us of the full spectrum of feeling we spend in love through her inspiring collection of love poetry, with a new introduction by Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies.Written from the heart, When Angels Speak of Love is a book of fifty love poems by bell hooks, one our most beloved public intellectuals, and author of over twenty books, including the bestselling All About Love. Poem after poem, hooks challenges our views and experiences with love—tracing the links between seduction and surrender, the intensity of desire, and the anguish of death. “Love must clean house, choose memories to keep, and memories to let go,” she writes. These verses are expansive yet accessible—encompassing romantic love, to love of family, friends, or oneself. In any iteration, these poems remind us of both the beauty and possibility of love.
£10.44
Faber & Faber Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett
Book SynopsisIt was as a poet that Samuel Beckett launched himself in the little reviews of 1930s Paris, and as a poet that he ended his career.The Collected Poems is the most complete edition of Beckett''s poetry and verse translations ever to be published, as well as the first critical edition. It establishes a significant new canon, and the commentary draws on a wide range of published sources, manuscripts and Beckett''s extensive correspondence. The notes place each poem in context, detailing the history and circumstances of its composition; they indicate significant variants and help explain obscure turns of phrase and allusions (frequently sourced to Beckett''s notebooks); they also identify resonances between poems and across Beckett''s work as a whole. The commentary is written in a lively and engaging style and is intended equally for the general reader, the student of modernism and the Beckett specialist.
£21.25
Faber & Faber W B Yeats 80th Anniversary Collection
Book SynopsisW. B. Yeats (1865-1939) was not only Ireland''s greatest poet but one of the most influential voices in world literature in the twentieth century. His extraordinary work, in the words of this volume''s editor Seamus Heaney, encourages us ''to be more resolutely and abundantly alive, whatever the conditions.''Other volumes in this series: Auden, Betjemen, Eliot, Hughes and Plath
£12.34
Flapjack Press Making Other Plans
Book SynopsisNigel Planer has been writing poetry for over fifty years. Now he has corralled many of his poems into one volume, Making Other Plans - as in 'poetry is what happens when you're busy making other plans.' This collection forms a poetic memoir, richly articulating humorous and serious observations on life, love, ageing, society and the human condition, recounted with emotional tenderness and warranted vexation.Trade Review"A unique piece of poetic time travel. Frequently funny, sometimes alarming, always honest and constantly surprising." -Tim Firth / "Intelligent, inventive and always engaging." -Henry Normal / "Planer's poetry is marked by a true emotional tenderness; he effortlessly weaves together profound insights into the journey of his life with his quick wit." -Shobna Gulati
£9.50
WW Norton & Co The Iliad
Book SynopsisThe greatest literary landmark of classical antiquity masterfully rendered by the most celebrated translator of our timeTrade Review"Wilson’s translation runs as swift as a bloody river, teems with the clattering sounds of war, bursts with the warriors’ hunger for battle" -- Charlotte Higgins - The Guardian"Wilson’s Iliad is clear and brisk, its iambic pentameter a zone of enchantment. " -- Ange Mlinko - London Review of Books"Superb... [a] beautiful, fluent, memorable translation" -- Rowan Williams - New Statesman"Seduce[s] with its crystalline clarity, elegance, sensuality, sometimes breathless pace and above all emotional clout." -- Edith Hall - The Guardian"A triumphant new translation of the Iliad... It's a poem you read with your heart in your throat. " -- A. E. Stallings - The Spectator"A propulsive road... an excellent translation" -- Natalie Haynes - BBC Culture"Sing, goddess, of the skill of Emily [Wilson]." -- Robbie Millen - The Times"Vitally urgent" -- Judith Thurman - The New Yorker"For the Greeks, Homer was the universal poet. He was likened to the ocean, circling the world, from which all cultural rivers flowed... Two thousand years later, those rivers still flow. Wilson can take much pride in her successful contribution to this mighty stream" -- Peter Jones - The Times"Emily Wilson’s superb rendering of the Greek epic resounds with Miltonic echoes" -- The Telegraph"Emily Wilson's translation of the "Iliad" brings Homer's great war story to rousing new life....propulsive....buoyant and expressive. " -- Natalie Haynes - The New York Times Book Review"In Wilson's hands, the poem sings with the clash of bronze, the thundering of hooves, the savage holler of war-cries. Her use of iambic pentameter imbues it with irresistible pace and rhythm. It flows like music – exhilarating, tragic, beautiful and stirring" -- Jennifer Saint - the i newspaper"Wilson is at her best when writing of the battlefield. As others have noted, she has a knack for the consonantal sounds of warfare… Wilson’s Iliad is always to the point." -- Kate Maltby - Financial Times"Wilson's translation is vivid, lucid, pacy... For those yet to encounter this violent, charming, disturbing, beautiful poem, now is the time." -- Katherine Backler - The Tablet"Excellent... [Wilson] achieves a fluid and consistent vision." -- Philip Womack - Spectator World"Wilson has forged a poetic style in English that captures the essence of Homeric Greek….Readable, relevant and from the heart, this is the “Iliad” we have all been waiting for, whether we knew it or not.”" -- Naoíse Mac Sweeny - The Washington Post"We should be grateful for Emily Wilson's luminous new translation of the Iliad... Wilson's edition should be compulsory reading for every statesperson and politician—especially those seeking to make cheap capital out of our current tragedy... Read and be awed—and afraid." -- Lyndsey Stonebridge - New Statesman"[Wilson] captures so brilliantly the fire and dread and bewilderment and rage of the poem. She wears her erudition beautifully: she matches it with such wit, precision and flair." -- Katherine Rundell"Emily Wilson's muscular and moving new translation is truly what it claims to be - a version for our time" -- Andrew Motion - The Spectator"[An] acclaimed translation of The Iliad... [Wilson] breathes fire and clarity into the Greek poet's darker work" -- Gwendolyn Smith - the i newspaper"Achilles was back in the bestseller lists, thanks to Emily Wilson's acclaimed Iliad" -- Tristram Fane Saunders - The Telegraph"Wilson's elegant translation of Homer's epic tragedy deepens our understanding of this bruising song of love and death." -- Colin Grant - The Observer"Filled with spirit and exuberance... a version rendered in iambic pentameters that are by turns barnstorming, bleak and beautiful. " -- Rishi Dastidar - The Guardian"Wilson brings a rare combination of academic rigour and the lyricism of a born poet to one of Europe's most important texts, making ancient battles vivid and visceral and the language of Homer sing like few translators before. If you are buying for a classicist or even for someone who's been meaning to get around to the classics, you won't go wrong with this one." -- Charlie Connelly - The New European"A magisterial translation of the Iliad... The story of the battle between Hector and Achilles in the Trojan War, of a city under siege, of innocents caught up in conflict, has never been more resonant or necessary." -- The Mail on Sunday"In her new translation of The Iliad, Emily Wilson finds a fluid and readable idiom to depict the heroism, violence and vaingloriousness of Homer's Trojan War. Her rendering is more supple than sonorous, and both gods and men squabble, sulk, huff and puff with the breath of life, until it expires. " -- Michael Prodger - Country Life
£24.00
Batsford Ltd A Poem to Read Aloud Every Day of the Year
Book SynopsisA handsome anthology of 366 poems from around the world and throughout history, all especially selected for reading aloud, with one glorious poem for every day of the year. Everyone benefits from reading aloud, whether it's a bedtime story with Dad or Granny, an intimate moment with a loved one, or a performance to a group of people. When spoken, the poet’s words hit us more powerfully and meaningfully, and what's more, it's good for our health: mindfully reading aloud helps with relaxation, improves working memory and aids vocabulary acquisition. With a wide and diverse range of poets including the 14th-century Persian poet Hafiz and Mary Oliver in the 21st century, old favourites such as Emily Dickinson and more recent voices such as Lemn Sissay, the obvious classics such as Wordsworth’s Daffodils and slightly more offbeat fare like Spike Milligan, there's something for everyone in this book: poems that are funny, sad, consoling, uplifting and everything in between. Whether you're a teacher enthralling a class of children or a carer entertaining a group of pensioners, if you're looking for a reading for a special occasion or a powerful piece for a performance, you'll find everything you need here. It's the perfect book to dip into daily to share a poem with anyone, to hear the true beauty and rhythm of words and the magic they can weave.
£21.25
Nine Arches Press SelfPortrait With Family
Book SynopsisWeaving familial and queer traditions and archives, and stretching across generational perspectives, Amann Hyder's Self-Portrait With Family is an autobiographical collection about coming out to family and coming out into a gay community defined by whiteness.
£10.79
Faber & Faber By Heart 101 Poems To Remember
Book SynopsisWhat has happened to the lost art of memorising poems? Why do we no longer feel that it is necessary to know the most enduring, beautiful poems in the English language ''by heart''? In his introduction Ted Hughes explains how we can overcome the problem by using a memory system that becomes easier the more frequently it is practised. The collected 101 poems are both personal favourites and particularly well-suited to the method Hughes demonstrates. Spanning four centuries, ranging from Shakespeare and Keats through to Thomas Hardy and Seamus Heaney, By Heart offers the reader a ''mental gymnasium'' in which the memory can be exercised and trained in the most pleasurable way. Some poems will be more of a challenge than others, but all will be treasured once they have become part of the memory bank.This edition is part of a series of anthologies edited by poets such as Don Paterson and Simon Armitage and features an attractive new design to complement an anthology of cl
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Book SynopsisAll cats are alike in the dark. At the height of the Cold War, disillusioned British spy Alec Leamas is persuaded to stay out in the cold' for one last risky operation against the powerful leader of the East German Secret Service. But Leamas has committed a cardinal error: he's fallen in love. After a lifetime of deception and betrayal, can there be room for humanity in the ruthlessly manipulative world of international espionage?The first ever John le Carré novel to be adapted for the stage, this award-winning 1963 thriller has been hailed as a modern masterpiece. Leading playwright David Eldridge creates this gripping theatrical version. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre in August 2024.
£13.10
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The World Keeps Ending and the World Goes On
Book SynopsisNamed A Most Anticipated Book by: LitHub * Vulture * Time *A PW 2022 Holiday Gift PickOne of: Time''s 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 * NPR''s 2022 Books We Love Vulture''s 10 Best Books of 2022A Goodreads Readers Choice Award SemifinalistFrom acclaimed poet Franny Choi comes a poetry collection for the ends of worlds?past, present, and future. Choi?s third book features poems about historical and impending apocalypses, alongside musings on our responsibilities to each other and visions for our collective survival.Many have called our timedystopian. ButThe World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On reminds us that apocalypse has already come in myriad ways for marginalized peoples.With lyric and tonal dexterity, these poems spin backwards and forwards in time--from Korean comfort women during World War II, to the precipice of climate crisis, to children wandering a museum in the future. These poems explore narrative distances and queer linearity, investigating on microscopic scales before soaring towards the universal. As she wrestles with the daily griefs and distances of this apocalyptic world, Choi also imagines what togetherness--between Black and Asian and other marginalized communities, between living organisms, between children of calamity and conquest--could look like. Bringing together Choi''s signature speculative imagination with even greater musicality than her previous work,The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes Onultimately charts new paths toward hope in the aftermaths, and visions for our collective survival.Trade ReviewNamed A Most Anticipated Book by: LitHub * Vulture * Time * Lambda Literary One of Time's "100 Must-Read Books of 2022" * One of NPR's 2022 "Books We Love" * One of The Boston Globe's "Best Books of 2022" * A PW 2022 Holiday Gift Pick A Goodreads Readers Choice Award Semifinalist An Atlantic "Best Poetry Collections to Read Again and Again" — "Franny Choi’s poems are both of the world and transport us to another. I’ve taught her writing in multiple contexts for years. I’m thrilled to now have this new collection of her poems to savor and to share. The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On is a luminous, jarring, and gorgeous gift. Grateful to have these poems as a compass in these times" — Mariame Kaba, author of the NYT bestseller We Do This Til We Free Us "In their arresting poetry collection, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, Choi considers the many ways in which the unthinkable has already happened for the most marginalized around the world by way of catastrophe, war, and devastation." — Time “Capturing the painful truths about surviving this world that seems to care very little about the lives of communities of color, [Choi's] poetry inspires us to continuously fight for a different world--one that would be informed by generations of loss, lessons, and collective movements. Her poetry identifies why it is that our hearts and bones have been aching for so long. We have been at war and the world keeps ending. Franny’s collection is an homage to where we have been and how we must continue--injured, determined, beautifully and together.” — Connie Wun, PhD, co-founder of AAPI Women Lead "Franny Choi’s latest collection of poetry...neutralizes the feeling of apocalyptic panic by showing that xenophobia and brutality within an unequal society are, indeed, nothing new. Compounding the weariness of the past several years with that of the ages flies rather close to despair, but World eludes cynicism to cast generational trauma as a paean to survival." — Vulture “It was Franny Choi who first taught me the truism that every utopia requires an attendant dystopia, and here she catalogues them both with aplomb. Choi charts a path through the gloom and ecstasy of everyday catastrophe, always more mundane than we expected. It’s dull and violent and lined with ancestral memory and mushrooms ready to forage. Anyone who has lived through the daily absurdity of disaster— which is to say, all of us— can find a home here.” — Eve L. Ewing, author of 1919 and Electric Arches “Virtuosic visionary Franny Choi beholds brutal reality and, with uncanny and singular genius, transforms it into revolution. Choi believes community, family, history, eros, truth, and love demand change worth living for/through. This book gives blood, voice, and generations of memory to the slim chance that we can change this world enough to survive its endless dystopia, war, violence. Somehow this poet still believes in us: that we might read this work and, made bold with desire, love the world so deeply it has to love us back.” — Brenda Shaughnessy, author of The Octopus Museumi and Tanya "Franny Choi’s poems are arresting, sharp; they demand we listen and follow her where she wants to take us." — Literary Hub “Science Fiction Poetry” isn’t just the title of one poem from Franny Choi’s collection; it’s also a goal the whole volume undertakes. Effusively angry visions of near-future apocalypse and violent collapse make way, first, for Korean historical memory, and then for brighter visions of a rebuilt society. —Stephanie Burt — Boston Globe "In this new collection, Franny Choi brings her fierce intelligence, ferocious humor, and tonal virtuosity to new ground, imagining and reimagining utopia, dystopia, ongoingness, ending, and the end of ending. First loves, lost mothers, forever wars, 'little nevers' – the temporal vertigo of grief for country and kin, the anguish of failing to protect elders from being attacked – all are voiced in indelible song.... Choi doesn’t flinch from 'what we had to survive/ to make paradise/ from its ruins,' but, with equal bravery, insists on conceiving new communities, new possibilities, new tomorrows.... Her vision is luminous." — Suji Kwock Kim, author of Notes From the Divided Country "Franny Choi is one of my favorite poets and her new collection does not disappoint. These are incisive, elegant poems. There is a throughline of grief in many of the poem but the work demonstrates both stylistic and intellectual range. So excited for people to get into this book." — Roxane Gay “Choi has crafted a fight song for the apocalypse. Musical, defiant, queer, pushing — Choi dances with language at the protest to invite us to save each other. You will read this, read it again aloud, and copy down poems to send to your friends.” — Fawzy Taylor, A Room Of One’s Own Bookstore, Madison, WI "A marked attentiveness to craftsmanship and the niceties of language enlivens the poems in Franny Choi’s urgent, stirring [collection]. A fearless shifter of form, Choi switches moods and modes to tackle such topics as social unrest, climate change and her Korean heritage. Formidable themes like the nature of tragedy and the human capacity for renewal lend a timelessness to her work. Choi’s collection will awaken and inspire readers...her attitude is contagious." — BookPage (starred review) "Lines like these--poems like these--remind readers of what is possible in poetry. " — Shelf Awareness "If you are only going to read one book of poetry this year, or assign one book of poetry for your next class, make it this one. Choi leaves nothing on the table, offering a collection that will satisfy students of poetry and casual readers with equal fervor. This is one collection you will want to carry with you for months to come." — The Poetry Question "A collection that will startle readers." — Library Journal (starred review) "Choi calls upon apocalypses of the past, present, and future to imagine a picture of what survival through community could look like." — Chicago Review of Books, " 12 Must-Read Books of November" "In these ecstatic lyrics, Choi explores what it means to survive in an era that teeters on the edge of apocalyptic doom." — Poets & Writers "The paradox of how we can live in this disastrous world, and handle our own culpability, burns through this collection.” — Poetry
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Moon That Turns You Back
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Epic of Gilgamesh
Book SynopsisN. K. Sandars's landmark translation of one of the first and greatest works of Western literatureA Penguin ClassicGilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his companion Enkidu are the only heroes to have survived from the ancient literature of Babylon, immortalized in this epic poem that dates back to the third millennium BC. Together they journey to the Spring of Youth, defeat the Bull of Heaven and slay the monster Humbaba. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s grief and fear of death are such that they lead him to undertake a quest for eternal life. A timeless tale of morality, tragedy and pure adventure, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a landmark literary exploration of man’s search for immortality.N. K. Sandars’s lucid, accessible translation is prefaced by a detailed introduction that examines the narrative and historical context of the work. In addition, there is a glossary of names and a map of the Ancient Orient.For more than seventy Trade Review"The work of synthesis has been accomplished, and with a remarkable degree of tact and imagination."--Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsIntroduction: the history of the epic; the discovery of the tablets; the historical background; the literary background; the hero of the epic; the principal gods of the epic; the story; survival; the diction of the epic; remarks on this version. "The Epic of Gilgamesh": Gilgamesh King in Uruk; the coming of Enkidu; the forest journey; Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the death of Enkidu; the search for everlasting life; the story of the flood; the return; the death of Gilgamesh.
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd The Divine Comedy I Inferno
Book SynopsisDante''s Inferno describes his descent into Hell midway through his life with the Roman Virgil as his guide, and is unparalleled in its depiction of the tragedy of sin. It is a work inspired by a profound confidence in human nature, yet also expresses Dante''s horror at the way individuals can destroy themselves and each other, creating Hell on Earth. A response to the violent society of thirteenth-century Italy, the Inferno reveals the eternal punishment reserved for sins such as greed, self-deception, political double-dealing and treachery. Portraying a huge diversity of characters culminating in a horrific vision of Satan, it broke new ground in the vigour of its language and its storytelling. It has had a particular influence on Modernist writers and their successors throughout the world.Robin Kirkpatrick''s new translation pays exceptional attention to the originality and force of Dante''s narrative. Printed in English with facing pages in Dante''s Italian, this edition also offers an introduction, along with commentaries and notes on each Canto by the translator, which identify the historical, cultural and philosophical issues behind the poem.Trade Review“A masterly translation.” ―Judith Thurman, The New Yorker“Kirkpatrick brings a more nuanced sense of the Italian and a more mediated appreciation of the poem’s construction than nearly all of his competitors. . . . There is much to recommend here―certainly the intelligence, the energy, the linguistic range. . . . His introduction and canto-by-canto notes are remarkably level and lucid, as attentive to structure as to syntax, language and motif, and deftly cross-reference the whole poem. On their own, they would justify the price.”―The Times (London)“We gain much from Kirkpatrick’s fidelity to syntax and nuance, and from the fact that the Italian is on the facing page for our inspection. . . . His introduction . . . tells you, very readably indeed, pretty much all you need for a heightened appreciation of the work. . . . Kirkpatrick edges us, smoothly, into Dante’s mind, and shows just how and why his influence has seemed to grow with the passage of time. We even get a map of trecento Italy (nestling against a map of hell). . . . If the Purgatorio and Paradiso are as good as this, then English readers will, I hope, start familiarising themselves with the two-thirds of the work most never get round to reading.” —Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian“Likely to be the best modern version of Dante . . . The perfect balance of tightness and colloquialism.” —Bernard O’Donoghue“This version is the first to bring together poetry and scholarship in the very body of the translation—a deeply informed version of Dante that is also a pleasure to read.” —David Wallace, University of Pennsylvania
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe Selected
Book SynopsisThe largest and richest English-language volume of poetry from “the greatest twentieth-century writer you have never heard of” (Los Angeles Times) Edited, Translated, and with an Introduction by Richard Zenith, the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Pessoa: A BiographyA Penguin Classic Writing obsessively in French, English, and Portuguese, poet Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) left a prodigious body of work, much of it credited to three “heteronyms”―Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Alvaro de Campos―alter egos with startlingly different styles, points of view, and biographies. Offering a unique sampling of his most famous voices, this collection features Pessoa’s major, best-known works and several stunning poems that have come to light only in this century, including his long, highly autobiographical swan song. Featuring a rich body of work that has never before been tTrade Review“Pessoa was one of the great, twentieth-century poets, the equal of Yeats, Rilke, Valéry, Lorca, Pasternak, or Hart Crane. Here, at long last, is a copious selection, translated by the gifted poet and scholar Richard Zenith. It is cause for rejoicing.” ―John Ashbery
£13.49
