Poetry Books

Book SynopsisPreface; Introduction; Hervarar Saga Ok Heidreks; Notes; Glossary; Index of Names.

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Book SynopsisSelected Poems 1968-2014 offers forty-five years of work drawn from twelve individual collections by a poet who ''began as a prodigy and has gone on to become a virtuoso'' (Michael Hofmann). Hailed by Seamus Heaney as ''one of the era''s true originals'', Muldoon seems determined to escape definition yet this volume, chosen by the poet himself, serves as an indispensable introduction to his trademark combination of intellectual high jinx and emotional honesty. Among his many honours are the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the Shakespeare Prize ''for contributions from English-speaking Europe to the European inheritance.''

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Book SynopsisOne of those rare books that is immediately enjoyable yet will repay many re-readings' Poetry ReviewCarol Ann Duffy's highly praised second collection, for which she was given the Somerset Maughan Award, showcases the Poet Laureate's skill even at the very start of her career. Within are poems that reveal the full range of her interests: from the dramatic monologues, to meditations on death and art, to poems of protest and poems of love. Throughout it all, though, is a resounding determination to give voices to those who are usually voiceless, and always apparent is her inimitable wit, wisdom and imagination. At once tender and sharp, moving and humourous, Selling Manhattan has dazzled both readers and critics ever since it was first published in 1987.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 *Accessible and entertaining, yet her form is classical, her technique razor-sharp. She is read by people who don't really read poetry, yet she maintains the respect of her peers. Reviewers praise her touching, sensitive, witty evocations of love, loss, dislocation, nostalgia; fans talk of greeting her at readings 'with claps and cheers that would not sound out of place at a rock concert. -- Katharine Viner * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisDrawing on traditional themes, the Roman de Silence tells of a girl raised as a boy, equally accomplished as a minstrel and knight, whose final task, the capture of Merlin, leads to her unmasking.

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Book SynopsisThis epoch-marking anthology presents a map of poetry from Britain and Ireland which readers can follow. You will not get lost here as in other anthologies – with their vast lists of poets summoned up to serve a critic’s argument or to illustrate a journalistic overview. Instead, Edna Longley shows you the key poets of the century, and through interlinking commentary points up the connections between them as well as their relationship with the continuing poetic traditions of these islands. Edna Longley draws the poetic line of the century not through culture-defining groups but through the work of the most significant poets of our time. Because her guiding principle is aesthetic precision, the poems themselves answer to their circumstances. Readers will find this book exciting and risk-taking not because her selections are surprising but because of the intensity and critical rigour of her focus, and because the poems themselves are so good. This is a vital anthology because the selection is so pared down. Edna Longley has omitted showy, noisy, ephemeral writers who drown out their contemporaries but leave later or wiser readers unimpressed. Similarly there is no place here for the poet as entertainer, cultural spokesman, feminist mythmaker or political commentator. While anthologies survive, the idea of poetic tradition survives. An anthology as rich as Edna Longley’s houses intricate conversations between poets and between poems, between the living and the dead, between the present and the future. It is a book which will enrich the reader’s experience and understanding of modern poetry. The anthology covers the work of 70 poets: Thomas Hardy, W.B. Yeats, Edward Thomas, D.H. Lawrence, Siegfried Sassoon, Edwin Muir, T.S. Eliot, Ivor Gurney, Isaac Rosenberg, Hugh MacDiarmid, Wilfred Owen, Charles Hamilton Sorley, Robert Graves, Austin Clarke, Basil Bunting, Stevie Smith, Patrick Kavanagh, Norman Cameron, William Empson, W.H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, John Hewitt, Robert Garioch, Norman MacCaig, R.S. Thomas, Henry Reed, Dylan Thomas, Alun Lewis, W.S. Graham, Keith Douglas, Edwin Morgan, Philip Larkin, Ian Hamilton Finlay, John Montague, Thom Gunn, Ted Hughes, Geoffrey Hill, Sylvia Plath, Fleur Adcock, Tony Harrison, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Douglas Dunn, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Paul Durcan, Tom Leonard, Carol Rumens, Selima Hill, Ciaran Carson, James Fenton, Medbh McGuckian, Paul Muldoon, Jo Shapcott, Ian Duhig, Carol Ann Duffy, Kathleen Jamie, Simon Armitage and Don Paterson.

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Book Synopsis Paterson Poetry Prize Finalist, 2015 Featured on NPR''s The Writer''s Almanac “Ellen Bass’s new poetry collection, Like a Beggar, pulses with sex, humor and compassion.”—The New York Times “Bass tries to convey everyday wonder on contemporary experiences of sex, work, aging, and war. Those who turn to poetry to become confidants for another''s stories and secrets will not be disappointed.”—Publishers Weekly “In her fifth book of poetry, Bass addresses everything from Saturn’s rings and Newton’s law of gravitation to wasps and Pablo Neruda. Her words are nostalgic, vivid, and visceral. Bass arrives at the truth of human carnality rooted in the extraordinary need and promise of the individual. Bass shows us that we are as radiant as we are ephemeral, that in transience glistens resilient history and the remarkable fluidity of connection. By the collection’s end—following her musings on suicide and generosity, desire and repetition—it becomes lucidly clear that Bass is not only a poet but also a philosopher and a storyteller.”—Booklist Ellen Bass brings a deft touch as she continues her ongoing interrogations of crucial moral issues of our times, while simultaneously delighting in endearing human absurdities. From the start of Like a Beggar, Bass asks her readers to relax, even though "bad things are going to happen," because the "bad" gets mined for all manner of goodness. From "Another Story": After dinner, we''re drinking scotch at the kitchen table.Janet and I just watched a NOVA specialand we''re explaining to her motherthe age and size of the universe—the hundred billion stars in the hundred billion galaxies.Dotty lives at Dominican Oaks, making her way down the long hall.How about the sun? she asks, a little farmshit in the endlessness.I gather up a cantaloupe, a lime, a cherry,and start revolving this salad around the chicken carcass.This is the best scotch I ever tasted, Dotty says,even though we gave her the Maker''s Markwhile we''re drinking Glendronach... Ellen Bass''s poetry includes  Like A Beggar (Copper Canyon Press, 2014), The Human Line  (Copper Canyon Press, 2007), which was named a Notable Book by the San Francisco Chronicle, and Mules of Love (BOA, 2002), which won the Lambda Literary Award.  She co-edited (with Florence Howe) the groundbreaking No More Masks! An Anthology of Poems by Women (Doubleday, 1973). Her work has frequently been published in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, The New Republic, The Sun  and many other journals. She is co-author of several non-fiction books, including The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (HarperCollins, 1988, 2008) which has sold over a million copies and been translated into twelve languages. She is part of the core faculty of the MFA writing program at Pacific University.

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Book Synopsis Antonio Porchia (1886–1968) wrote one book, a slender collection of poetic aphorisms that became a classic in the Spanish-speaking world. With affinities to Taoist and Buddhist epigrams, Voices bears witness to the awe of human existence. Revised and updated with a new introduction by translator W.S. Merwin, this bilingual volume brings back into print one of Latin America’s great literary treasures. He who tells the truth says almost nothing.*I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received.*Only a few arrive at nothing, because the way is long.*Out of a hundred years a few minutes were made that stayed with me, not a hundred years.*When I come upon some idea that is not of this world, I feel as though this world had grown wider.*This world understands nothing but words, and you have come into it with almost none.*We become aware of the void as we fill it. Antonio Porchia (1886–1968) was born in Italy. After his father died, he emigrated to Argentina with his mother and seven siblings, and as the eldest child, started working at the age of 14. He was self-taught, and his only book, Voices, caught the attention of a noted French critic who assumed him to be a scholar of Kafka and Buddhism, rather than the humble man who loved to tend his garden. Today, Porchia’s aphorisms are published in more than a dozen Spanish-language editions as well as in German, French and Italian. W.S. Merwin’s awards include the Pulitzer Prize, the Tanning Prize, the Bollingen Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the NEA. He is the author of dozens of books of poetry and translations. He lives in Hawaii.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1572, The Lusiads is one of the greatest epic poems of the Renaissance, immortalizing Portugal''s voyages of discovery with an unrivalled freshness of observation. At the centre of The Lusiads is Vasco da Gama''s pioneer voyage via southern Africa to India in 1497-98. The first European artist to cross the equator, Camoes''s narrative reflects the novelty and fascination of that original encounter with Africa, India and the Far East. The poem''s twin symbols are the Cross and the Astrolabe, and its celebration of a turning point in mankind''s knowledge of the world unites the old map of the heavens with the newly discovered terrain on earth. Yet it speaks powerfully, too, of the precariousness of power, and of the rise and decline of nationhood, threatened not only from without by enemies, but from within by loss of integrity and vision. The first translation of The Lusiads for almost half a century, this new edition is complemented by an illuminating introduction and extensive notes. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book SynopsisThe theme of the great Shakespearean tragedies is the fall from grace of a great man due to a flaw in his nature. Whether it is the ruthless ambition of Macbeth or the folly of Lear, the irresolution of Hamlet or the suspicion of Othello, the cause of the tragedy - even when it is the murder of a king - is trifling compared to the calamity that it unleashes. Despite his flawed nature, however, the tragic hero has a nobility that emphasizes the greatness of man. From this paradox the audience is brought to a greater understanding of - and sympathy with - suffering. The four tragedies in this collection are accompanied by notes and an introduction to each text, making this edition of particular value to students and theatre-goers.

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Book SynopsisA hugely influential philosophical work of prose poetry, Kahlil Gibran''s The Prophet is an inspirational, allegorical guide to living, and this Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Robin Waterfield.First published in the 1920''s, The Prophet is perhaps the most famous work of religious fiction of the twentieth century, and has sold millions of copies in more than twenty languages. Gibran''s Prophet speaks of many things central to daily life: love, marriage, death, beauty, passion, eating, work and play. The spiritual message he imparts, of finding divinity through love, blends eastern mysticism, religious faith and philosophy with simple advice. The Prophet became the bible of 1960s culture and was credited with founding the New Age movement, yet it still continues to inspire people around the world today. This edition is illustrated with Gibran''s famous visionary paintings.Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) was a poet, philosopher and artist, who stands among the most important Arabic language authors of the early twentieth century. Born in Lebanon, he spent the last twenty years of his life in the United States, where for many years he was the leader of a Lebansese writing circle in New York. He is the author of numerous volumes, including The Garden of the Prophet, The Storm, The Beloved: Reflections on the Path of the Heart, The Vision, Reflections on the Way of the Soul, and Spirit Brides. If you enjoyed The Prophet, you might like Herman Hesse''s Siddhartha, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''His work goes on from generation to generation''Daily Mail''To read it was to transcend ordinary levels of perception, to become aware ... of a more intense level of being''Independent

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Book SynopsisAuden, Lewis, MacNeice and other key poets of the 'Thirties' were children of the First World War, obsessed by war and by communalism and by the class-struggle. But from within their strongly defined unity of ideals, a varied body of poetry emerged. This book arranges the poetry to make a 'critical essay' of the period.

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Book SynopsisBukowski's unmistakable charisma - an ex-down-and-outer who wrote of booze and loneliness in maverick, confident free verse - made him one of the world's most popular poets long before he died in 1994. More than a decade later, death has not slowed his production. This collection is selected from an archive of verse that the author left to be published after his death. It includes poems of love and sex, advice to so-called losers (as he once was) to have confidence in themselves (as he did), gambling laments and humbling poems accepting his own imminent ultimate full stop.Trade ReviewThe thing about Bukowski is, when you read what he has to say, he's right. * * Sean Penn * *We all knew Bukowski was a tough guy, but who would have guessed that even the grave could not shut him up? * * Billy Collins * *Full of sad, hilarious lamentation and schadenfreude. As usual, not for the kiddies. But for the adults, God, yes. * * Booklist * *In an age of conformity Bukowski wrote about the people nobody wanted to be: the ugly, the selfish, the lonely, the mad. * * Observer * *A laureate of American low life. * * Time * *

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Book SynopsisDistills the essential emotions from people's encounters with each other, with nature, and with themselves. This book lets us see ourselves and the world that surrounds us through the author's compassionate but unblinking eyes.Trade ReviewPacific Northwest Booksellers Association Poetry Award, 2000. Governor's Writers Award, Washington State Center for the Book, 2000.

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Book SynopsisThe entire Shakespeare play - unabridged! "The course of true love never did run smooth;" With its mix of real people who stumble into a fairy kingdom (with it's own problems!) it's little wonder that this play is one of the best loved and most performed of all Shakespeare's masterpieces.

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Book SynopsisIncludes the ever popular If, along with the best of Kipling''s powerful, fluent poetry.

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Book SynopsisA major new edition of Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy,an outstanding landmark of Elizabethan drama. In its time, it quickly became a box office success and probably inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet, as it contains a ghost, murders that demand revenge and a hero that hesitates and contemplates suicide. As a revenge tragedy, it set up the salient features of a dramatic genre that would last decades. Its hero, the aged Marshall of Spain Hieronimo, whose son is murdered at night, soon transcended the play and became the standard stage representation of grief, rhetorical passion and madness. Hieronimo's main antagonist is one of the first Machiavellian characters of English drama. This edition explores the play in relation to its historical context and contemporary Iberian dynastic policy. It also relates the play, as a literary artefact, to other artistic manifestations of the European Renaissance and offers a fresh assessment of the play's stage history. For the first time in the play's textual history, this edition presents an integrated text inviting a reading of the play as it was published both in 1592 and in 1602.Trade ReviewThe Spanish Tragedy has a long stage history which Calvo and Tronch summarize concisely [in this book]. Professional performances up to 2010 are documented, but amateur performances, often ignored by critics, are also shown to yield interesting insights. * The Year's Work in English Studies *A well-thought-out contribution to the study of Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy, and its underlying themes of cultural representation, power relations, afterlife studies, early modern international relations, and historical context analysis. * H-Nationalism *

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Book SynopsisBilly Collins is one of America’s bestselling poets; he is also one of the rarest kind – an unalloyed pleasure to read.

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Book SynopsisBertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose work has had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include Mother Courage and Her Children, The Threepenny Opera, Life of Galileo, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. His plays and dramatic theory are central to the study of modern theatre.

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Book SynopsisBy the Poet LaureateThe Alliterative Morte Arthure - the title given to a four-thousand line poem written sometime around 1400 - was part of a medieval Arthurian revival which produced such masterpieces as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Sir Thomas Malory''s prose Morte D''Arthur. The Death of King Arthur deals in the cut-and-thrust of warfare and politics: the ever-topical matter of Britain''s relationship with continental Europe, and of its military interests overseas. Simon Armitage is already the master of this alliterative music, as his earlier version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2006) so resourcefully and exuberantly showed. His new translation restores a neglected masterpiece of story-telling, by bringing vividly to life its entirely medieval mix of ruthlessness and restraint.

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Book SynopsisA traveller falls ill in a poor country and plummets into a feverish self-examination.But something''s been hidden from me, too. Something - a part of myself - has been hidden from me, and I think it''s the part that''s there on the surface, what anyone in the world could see about me if they saw out the window of a passing train. The incredible history of my feelings and my thoughts could fill up a dozen leather-bound books. But the story of my life - my behaviour, my actions - now that''s a slim little paperback, and I''ve never read it.The Fever was first performed by the author in an apartment near Seventh Avenue in New York City in January 1990. It was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1991, and at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1997. The Fever was revived at the Royal Court Theatre in April 2009.

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Book SynopsisSuitable for students, scholars, and poets on various aspects of its subject: history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, critical terms, and more, this book reflects changes in literary and cultural studies, providing coverage and giving greater attention to the international aspects of poetry.Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2013 "[T]he Princeton Encyclopedia has earned its reputation as the standard reference work for the array of topics comprehended by the study of poetry... [I]ts coverage of an impressive range of poetic traditions hitherto relatively unheralded in mainstream Western criticism is one of its most prominent achievements... [T]his edition of the Encyclopedia has turned concertedly to expert specialists in non-Western poetries like never quite before, which allows for subtle, well-informed and finely grained entries across (almost) the full range of world poetries... [T]his fourth edition of The Princeton Encyclopedia superlatively fulfils its nearly fifty-year-old commitment to, as the preface to the first edition had it, 'accuracy, utility, interest, and ... thoroughness.'"--Ross Wilson, Times Literary Supplement "Ever since the first edition of this work, in 1965, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has been a comprehensive and authoritative reference work valued by students, teachers, and poets... This edition will be welcomed by all readers of poetry. It provides so many new essays and updates, and, finally, has an index, which is useful as the Encyclopedia does not include entries on individual poets, but rather discusses them in the context of the larger topics to which they are related. Also beneficial is the new page layout that is easier to read and more conducive to browsing. Highly recommended."--Library Journal (Starred Review) "This is a huge reference work, and the publicity people at Princeton are justifiably proud of it. Even though this book is about poetry, it is surprisingly complete. For example; I love how the book discusses the poetry of a people and ties it to their history--I mean, I could read this book for the historical context of a particular body of ethnic or linguistic poetry alone, but of course, there is plenty of poetry in here, too. If you are a poet, a student of poetry or if you (like me) love reading poetry, then this is, without any doubt, the book for you! It certainly would make an excellent gift for the poet, scholar or poetry lover in your life."--Devorah Bennu, GrrlScientist "[W]orthy... [M]onumental."--Stuart Mitchner, Town Topics "[I]f you're a student of poetry, you'll want to own a copy... The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics goes far beyond a beginner's guide to poetry, and the new Fourth Edition is a worthy update to an already excellent encyclopedia series."--Poetry International "The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is a stupendous work... What makes it unique and extremely valuable is the exhaustive entries... Running into 1639 pages, in single volume, this is a huge contribution to the study of poetry and poetics. Any student of literature and linguistics should have a copy as it introduces the reader to every nuance of poetry, in its finest. A marvelous work indeed."--Vaidehi Nathan, Organiser "[O]ne of the greatest literary reference works in all of poetry... The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is an excellent, worthy addition to anyone's collection."--John Cowans, BookPleasures "This belongs on the desk of anyone teaching creative writing or literature, and anyone over the age of twelve who is serious about poetry."--Barbara Berman, Rumpus "You can't say enough about The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, because it has already said just about everything. It is an encyclopedia, after all, but more than that, it is a thoroughly illuminating text that contains everything a poet or critic might need to know, from Accentual-Syllabic Verse to Zulu poetry. To put it simply, it is the most fascinating book on poetics published this year."--Stephan Delbos, Body "[T]his encyclopedia is a bargain for anyone seriously interested in poetry... This Princeton Encyclopedia, for all its contemporaneity, has the bonus of several hundred years' scholarship behind it... The entries ... are scholarly and extremely wide-ranging. All kinds of poetry are ... taken seriously and the traditions of all major languages--and many minor ones--are treated in considerable detail."--Geoff Page, Age "Roland Greene and associates have done a tremendous job in revising Terry Brogan's and Alex Preminger's magisterial 3d edition of this classic work. It's a vast compendium of poetic lore, terminology, technique, and history with an astutely chosen set of contributors. At 1664 pages, I am still cruising the book and wishing I had the digital edition as well. This is a work to dip into at any page for a wealth of detailed and often absorbingly arcane information. PEPP is up to date, with entries for new poetic developments right up to the present (yes, Lavinia, Conceptual poetry, Kootenay school, and Flarf have entries, along with my own precis on 'absorption,' and new entries on antropofagia, codework, cognitive poetics, Xul, Sanskrit poetry, and many more). The index alone is worth the price of admission... As a kid (and as the kid I still am) I read through dictionaries and encyclopedias, a to z; this book holds that same kind of transfixing fascination. It also shows how new encyclopaedias (I prefer that spelling) can remain relevant in the wake of Wiki. Each of the entries is signed and bears the stamp of its author. While scholarly and descriptive in tone, the book has a thousand different points of view of what poetry is and how it works, hundreds of contradictory, or at least competing, programs. As with the best compendia of odd facts and magical formulae, the wild swerve from one entry to the next offers delight upon delight."--Charles Bernstein, Lemon Hound "With 1,000-plus entries (some 250 of which are new), this edition expands and updates the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, with a more detailed focus on international traditions not often included in English-language reference tools... This volume will be a valuable addition for universities, and for colleges with MFA programs in creative writing."--Choice "[I]t is a browser's gem. This fully indexed Encyclopedia is user friendly and of immense interests to poets, editors, scholars and everyone interested in poetry. With the wealth of information it contains it is great value for money and in my opinion is far more reliable than researching on line."--Les Merton, Poetry Cornwall "There is a wealth of interest and debate in this impressive book. It is pretty hefty and not for reading on a train but can be dipped into or the specific topics studied in individual detail."--Stella Stocker, Weyfarers "Ever since its first publication in 1965, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics has oft been referred to as the ultimate, authoritative reference with regards the study of poetry. With its menagerie of terms, concepts, schools, movements and international tradition(s), contained herein is an almost one-of-kind reference book. It's so good--it makes for interesting and stimulating reading in its own right; and there really aren't many reference books one can say that about!"--David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews "The Princeton Encyclopedia is a superb achievement, an essential item for university libraries supporting literature courses and I would strongly urge public libraries to also purchase a copy."--Linda Kemp, Reference ReviewsTable of ContentsPreface vii Acknowledgments xi Topical List of Entries xv Bibliographical Abbreviations xxiii General Abbreviations xxvii Contributors xxviii Entries A to Z 1 Index 1555

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1976, with more than 75,000 copies in print, this collection of poems by fifteenth-century ecstatic poet Kabir is full of fun and full of thought. Columbia University professor of religion John Stratton Hawley has contributed an introduction that makes clear Kabir's immense importance to the contemporary reader and praises Bly's intuitive translations.By making every reader consider anew their religious thinking, the poems of Kabir seem as relevant today as when they were first written.

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Book SynopsisThe Shakespeare Made Easy series aims to take the fear out of Shakespeare. By having Shakespearean and Modern English facing each other, pupils will find it easier to comprehend the text. Through discussion of the life, work and theatre of Shakespeare pupils can gain a more rounded understanding of these classic works.

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Book SynopsisThe acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now repackaged in award-winning modern covers to inspire Shakespearians of all ages.

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Book SynopsisTiffany Stern is Professor of Early Modern Drama at University College, University of Oxford, UK. She is one of the General Editors of the New Mermaid series, and she has also edited two plays in the series - Sheridan's The Rivals (2004) and Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer (2010).James Ogden is Editor of She Stoops to Conquer for the New Mermaids series and a former Senior Lecturer in English at Aberystwyth University, UK.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction About the Play Plot Genre Structure Characters Men Women Themes Original Staging Recent Performances Date and Sources The Author Note on the text Abbreviations Further reading The Country Wife

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Book SynopsisSixty years of poems from a National Book Award winner and pioneering writer, activist and intellectual.

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Book SynopsisPoetry Book Society Wild Card Winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets'It’s thrilling to discover such a staggeringly self-assured debut, to feel in the unmistakable presence of The Real Thing' Kaveh AkbarThe Yemeni American poet Threa Almontaser’s incendiary debut asks how mistranslation can be a form of self-knowledge and survival. A love letter to the country and people of Yemen, a portrait of young Muslim womanhood in New York after 9/11, and an extraordinarily composed examination of what it means to carry in the body the echoes of what came before, Almontaser sneaks artifacts to and from worlds, repurposing language and adapting to the space between cultures. Speakers move with the force of what cannot be contained by the limits of the American imagination; instead, they invest in troublemaking and trickery, navigate imperial violence across multiple accents and anthems, and apply gang signs in henna, utilizing any means necessary to form a semblance of home. Fearlessly riding the tension between carnality and tenderness in the unruly human spirit, The Wild Fox of Yemen is one of the most original and bold debuts in recent years.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Saskatchewan Book Award (Poetry Book) 2023. Shortlisted for the Saskatchewan Book Award (City of Saskatoon) 2023. Shortlisted for the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2022. Shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award 2022. Field Requiem bears witness to the violence inherent in the shift to industrialised farming in prairie Canada. Sheri Benning's poems chart the ways in which a way of life collapses, the world of the family farm, even as the speaker suffers, too. The first poem in the collection, 'Winter Sleep', is a fever dream: the borders between past and present, between the unconscious and the real, break down. The poem reckons with the devastating social and environmental impacts of the agribusiness industry. The long elegy, 'Let Them Rest', takes its cue from the Dies Irae and the Latin liturgy of the Requiem mass to mourn Saskatchewan's many ruined farmsteads and razed communities. Throughout, the poems trace the still luminous contours of love - for family, for the land - in rendering the horrors of loss. The incantatory voice rises from dream into dark vision. The book also includes lyric poems that give voice to the affective consequences of loss brought on by climate change and factory farming and renew a sense of locality in the teeth of corporate farming practices. Benning has worked with her sister Heather Benning, who constructs large-scale, site specific installations which explore and extend these themes.Trade Review'As a poet, Benning communicates feeling through words - and... she does so piercingly.' - The Toronto Star

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Book SynopsisSamantha King Holmes brings forth a raw, original perspective. A collection of poetry that breathes hope into the idea of love while mourning the human condition of seeking out connections, sometimes with the wrong people. Her verse takes the readers on an introspective journey of love, longing, and self-evolution.Born to Love, Cursed to Feel Revised Edition brings to life an answer to the many difficult questions involving self-love and the feelings we have for others. The book explores the need to connect and the way emotions can complicate our decision making. Ultimately this book is a poetic documentation of heartbreak, anguish, and redemption. A story told in hopes of reminding others that their mistakes do not define them and that the end is usually the beginning of something more. In this revised edition, new, never-before-seen poems are sprinkled throughout among beloved and refreshed pieces from the first edition.

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Book SynopsisAlexander Pushkin’s epic magic-realist tale is brought vividly to life in this superb translation by D. M. Thomas. Drawing on the Russian folklore of Pushkin’s childhood, the poem recounts the abduction of Princess Ludmila by the evil wizard Chernomor and the attempt by the brave knight Ruslan to rescue his bride. Ruslan must embark on a perilous quest, encountering an intriguing cast of characters – including a hermit, a witch and a pugnacious floating head – before he can be reunited with his love.Ruslan and Ludmila is a vibrantly colourful blend of traditional chivalry, outrageous humour and exciting escapades: a gorgeous display of the poet's astonishing imagination.

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Book SynopsisOkot wants nothing more than to get to the UK. Beth wants nothing more than to help him.Join the hopeful, resilient residents of The Jungle', the refugees and volunteers from around the globe who gather at the Afghan Café. They're just across the Channel, right on our doorstep.Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson's The Jungle premiered as a coproduction between Young Vic and the National Theatre with Good Chance Theatre, commissioned by the National Theatre, opening at the Young Vic, London, in December 2017. It transferred to the Playhouse Theatre, London, in June 2018.The play made its North American premiere at St. Ann''s Warehouse in New York in 2018 and enjoyed a subsequent engagement at The Curran in San Francisco in 2019. In 2023, The Jungle returned to the US, running at St. Ann''s Warehouse and Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C.

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Book Synopsis Smoke & Mirrors is the third book from internationally bestselling poet Michael Faudet, author of Bitter Sweet Love and Dirty Pretty Things - a finalist in the 2015 Goodreads Readers Choice Awards. Michael Faudet’s latest book takes the reader on an emotionally charged journey, exploring the joys of falling madly in love and the melancholy world of the brokenhearted. Beautifully captured in poetry, prose, and short stories, Faudet's whimsical and sometimes erotic writing has captured the hearts and minds of thousands of readers from around the world.

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Book SynopsisA drama of ambition, murder, remorse and retribution, Boris Godunov charts the decline of a Russian statesman, whose dynastic aims were foiled by a guilty past and an audacious upstart. Based on history and inspired by Shakespeare, Alexander Pushkin’s daring masterwork is presented here in its rarely published uncensored version of 1825. Set in Vienna, Flanders, Madrid and London, Pushkin’s celebrated Little Tragedies – Mozart and Salieri, The Mean-Spirited Knight, The Stone Guest and A Feast during the Plague – each focus on a protagonist’s driving obsession – with status, money, sex or risk-taking – and its devastating consequences.Table of ContentsThis edition features an appendix containing extra historical material, notes on the play's staging and versions of the text, as well as an extract from John Wilson's The City of the Plague.

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Book Synopsis"A complete facing-page translation of the Tarjuman, which consists of sixty-one poems composed between 1202 and 1215 CE and published in 1215 at the earliest. The first word of the title can refer to a translator, interpreter, or biographer, on the one hand, and to a translation, interpretation, or biography on the other"--Trade Review"Michael Sells, a highly regarded expert on the history and literature of Islam, and translator of this splendid book, provides all we might need to understand the poems in their broader historical context. . . . It is the clarity of his translations that bring these poems back for us, their marvels intact."---Allan Graubard, American Book Review

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Book SynopsisAn Indie Poetry Bestseller! What the world needs now – featuring poems from inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, Ross Gay, Tracy K. Smith and more. More and more people are turning to poetry as an antidote to divisiveness, negativity, anxiety, and the frenetic pace of life. How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope offers readers uplifting, deeply felt, and relatable poems by well-known poets from all walks of life and all parts of the US, including inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, Joy Harjo, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ross Gay, Tracy K. Smith, and others. The work of these poets captures the beauty, pleasure, and connection readers hunger for. How to Love the World, which contains new works by Ted Kooser, Mark Nepo, and Jane Hirshfield, invites readers to use poetry as part of their daily gratitude practice to uncover the simple gifts of abundance and joy to be found everywhere. With pauses for stillness and invitations for writing and reflection throughout, as well as reading group questions and topics for discussion in the back, this book can be used to facilitate discussion in a classroom or in any group setting.

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Book SynopsisThe mayor and local officials of a small provincial town in Russia have got it made: corruption is rife and they have all the power. Yet, when they learn that an undercover government inspector is about to make a visit, they face a mad dash to cover their tracks. Soon, the news that a suspicious person has recently arrived from St Petersburg and is staying in a local inn produces a series of events and misunderstandings that lead to a hilarious dénouement. Often quoted as Russian literature’s greatest comedy, The Government Inspector is a trenchant satire of the corruption, greed and stupidity of petty officialdom, and the crowning achievement of Gogol’s skills as a playwright.Trade ReviewRoger Cockrell’s freer and livelier versions, of which there are many more examples, mean that any company planning a new production of the play would be well advised to use this fresh, highly actable (and, for good measure, attractively produced) translation of Gogol’s timeless classic. * East-West Review *Roger Cockrell goes straight for the funny bone. His characters speak their truths in intoxicating, colourful English. […] This reader of Roger Cockrell's lively and hilarious Government Inspector cannot wait to see it staged. * TLS *

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Book SynopsisIn downstate Illinois, four men convicted of sex crimes against minors share a group home where they live out their lives in the shadow of the offences they committed. A man shows up to confront his childhood abuser – but does he want closure or retribution? Bruce Norris's provocative play Downstate zeroes in on the limits of our compassion and what happens when society deems anyone beyond forgiveness. Downstate received its UK premiere at the National Theatre, London, in March 2019, in the same production which had its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, in September 2018.Trade Review'You can hear a pin-drop for most of the evening – except when you are laughing in shock or reeling in surprise... an astonishing piece of writing, which fulfils art's profound function of making you look and think hard about complex, difficult moral issues’ * WhatsOnStage *'A haunting vision of sex abuse by a playwright with a gift for unsettling… Norris handles the subject matter nimbly… an uncomfortable experience, flecked with humour but bleak and haunting. It raises deeply awkward questions about revenge, revulsion and forgiveness' * Evening Standard *'A smart, acutely funny, important piece of work… Bruce Norris has a lightness of touch which prevents the grim subject matter from a descent into preachiness… in an arena where reasoned debate is routinely shouted down, Bruce Norris has proved to be a necessary voice' * Telegraph *'An unsentimental act of compassion and a devastating entertainment, a wry polemic and the darkest of dark comedies' * Chicago Reader *'[An] audacious, highly charged play' * Daily Herald *

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Book SynopsisKatharine Towers' second collection is a book of small wonders. From a house drowning in roses to crickets on an August day, from Nerval's lobster to the surrealism of flower remedies, these poems explore the fragility of our relationship with the natural world. Towers also shows us what that relationship can aspire to be: each poem attunes us to another aspect of that world, and shows what strange connections might be revealed when we properly attend to it. The Remedies is a lyric, unforgettable collection which offers just the spiritual assuagement its title promises, and shows Towers emerging as a major poetic talent.Trade ReviewThere is so much to praise about the writing: clarity, generosity and grace. There are no barriers between poem and reader. . .[Towers] writes with a marvellously gentle wit and a metrical intelligence. . .Quite how she manages the balancing act between entertainment and something that comes close to a prayer, that catches at your throat, is beyond me * Guardian *Each of these short poems shines with soft, lyrical grace; she writes about birds, flowers and objects in clear, generous language that reaches out towards the reader, embracing and never pushing away. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisFrom the award-winning poet and playwright behind Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall is an epic story and a lyrical exploration of pride, power and female revenge.There is something about Demi. When this boy is angry, rain clouds gather. When he cries, rivers burst their banks and the first time he takes a shot on a basketball court, the deities of the land take note.His mother, Modupe, looks on with a mixture of pride and worry. From close encounters, she knows Gods often act like men: the same fragile egos, the same unpredictable fury and the same sense of entitlement to the bodies of mortals.She will sacrifice everything to protect her son, but she knows the Gods will one day tire of sports fans, their fickle allegiances and misdirected prayers. When that moment comes, it won't matter how special he is. Only the women in Demi's life, the mothers, daughters and Goddesses, will stand between him and a lightning bolt.Trade Review Praise for The Half-God of Rainfall: ‘I loved it … When I was making Good Omens and getting no time to read, I still found time to read it.’ Neil Gaiman on Twitter 'A world-beating exploration of mythology, power and sport, all stitched together by the unique and wonderful pen of Inua Ellams, a master craftsman in storytelling' Nikesh Shukla ‘If you love the swish of draining rain, you’ll love The Half God of Rainfall. Ellams creates a fresh flood of three-pointers and a Herculean dunk. The gravity of his message is as deep as a sunk shot from half-court’ Peter Khan ‘For 21st century readers who have fallen into the rhythm of the courts, this is mythopoetics at its best. By the strength of its careful braiding of song and swift slashes through a cross-pantheon of Yoruba and Greek deities, The Half-God of Rainfall stitches us into a single breath of wonder and shared delight at the journey of OluDemi Modupe. Inua Ellams possesses an intuitive and fluid grasp of the eternal virtues and heroic narratives that constitute our transglobal imaginations’ Major Jackson ‘Part Homeric-style epic, part female-focused revenge tragedy. Each line feels as though it’s carved into stone—solid, striking, glinting with beauty, but steeped in hard-edged truth. A true story for the ages, as well as for the politics of the present day’ Bridget Minamore ‘Ellams’ deeply moving epic transcends the printed word into dance and song. In reading, I became witness, worshipper and player’ C. S. Lozie ‘Inua writes in brimstone and beautiful’ William Augustus Chase Praise for Inua Ellams: ‘Ellams’ poetry gleams with a dusty, worn, deeply original beauty and he remains such wonderfully generous company’ Metro ‘There’s something uniquely 21st Century about Ellams’ voice which somehow absorbs the whole experience of colonialism without being totally defined by it’ Scotsman

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Book SynopsisR.M. Liuzza’s Broadview edition of Beowulf was published at almost exactly the same time as Seamus Heaney’s; in reviewing the two together in July 2000 for The New York Review of Books, Frank Kermode concluded that both translations were superior to their predecessors, and that it was impossible to choose between the two: “the less celebrated translator can be matched with the famous one,” he wrote, and “Liuzza’s book is in some respects more useful than Heaney’s.” Ever since, the Liuzza Beowulf has remained among the top sellers on the Broadview list.With this volume readers will now be able to enjoy a much broader selection of Old English poetry in translations by Liuzza. As the collection demonstrates, the range and diversity of the works that have survived is extraordinary—from heartbreaking sorrow to wide-eyed wonder, from the wisdom of old age to the hot blood of battle, and to the deepest and most poignant loneliness. There is breathless storytelling and ponderous cataloguing; there is fervent religious devotion and playful teasing. The poems translated here are meant to provide a sense of some of this range and diversity; in doing so they also offer significant portions of three of the important manuscripts of Old English poetry—the Vercelli Book, the Junius Manuscript, and the Exeter Book.Trade Review“With a poet’s eye and a scholar’s touch, the acclaimed translator of Beowulf has given us a superb volume for both the common reader and the literature classroom. All the major Old English poetry is here, beautifully translated into living English verse, introduced and annotated by an expert Anglo-Saxon scholar. Liuzza’s anthology of highly accurate, scholarly, poetic translations captures the full expressive range of the oldest poetry in English: the mournful note of elegy, the profound beat of wisdom poetry, the ardent music of faith, and the high songs of heroic fame.” — Andrew Scheil, University of Minnesota“The translations are beautiful—those of the elegies quite stunningly so. … Overall, this is a wonderful anthology.” — Andrew Scheil, University of MinnesotaTable of Contents Introduction Preface - The Birth of Poetry 1. Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica IV.24 [The Story of Cædmon] Elegies - Complaint and Consolation 1. "The Wanderer" 2. "The Seafarer" 3. "Deor" 4. "Wulf and Eadwacer" 5. "The Wife's Lament" 6. "The Ruin" Wisdom - The Order of Wonder 1. "The Cotton Maxims" 2. "The Gifts of Men" 3. "The Fortunes of Men" 4. "Vainglory" 5. "The Order of the World" 6. Exeter Book Riddles 7. Old English metrical charms Faith - Heaven's High King 1. Advent (Christ I) 2. Seasons for Fasting 3. Exodus 4. Daniel 5. The Dream of the Rood 6. Andreas 7. The Fates of the Apostles 8. Judith Fame - Heroes and History 1. The Battle of Maldon 2. The Battle of Brunanburh 3. The Finnsburh Fragment 4. Widsith

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Book SynopsisShakespeare everyone can understandnow in new DELUXE editions! Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, these popular guides make Shakespeare accessible to everyone. They introduce Shakespeare's world, significant plot points, and the key players. And now they feature expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter, along with links to bonus content on the Sparknotes.com website. A Q&A, guided analysis of significant literary devices, and review of the play give students all the tools necessary for understanding, discussing, and writing about Tempest. The expanded content includes:Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play. What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent? Plot Analysis: What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the characters behave

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Book SynopsisRainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is universally recognized as among the most important twentieth-century German-language poets. Here, for the first time, are all the surviving translations of his poetry made by Ruth Speirs (1916-2000), a Latvian exile who joined the British literary community in Cairo during World War Two, becoming a close friend of Lawrence Durrell and Bernard Spencer. Though described as 'excellent' and 'the best' by J. M. Cohen on the basis of magazine and anthology appearances, copyright restrictions meant that during her lifetime, with the exception of a Cairo-published Selected Poems (1942), Speirs was never to see her work gathered between covers and in print.This volume, edited by John Pilling and Peter Robinson, brings Speirs' translations the belated recognition they deserve. Her much-revised and considered versions are a key document in the history of Rilke's Anglophone dissemination. Rhythmically alive and carefully faithful, they give a uniquely mid-century English accent to the poet's extraordinary German, and continue to bear comparison with current efforts to render his tenderly taxing voice.

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Book SynopsisMysteries of the Home gathers into a single volume a selection of poems from Paula Meehan''s two seminal mid-career collections, The Man who was Marked by Winter (1991) and Pillow Talk (1994), both of which won considerable praise from critics and readers alike.Included here are some of her best-known and best-loved poems - ''The Pattern'', ''The Statue of the Virgin at Granard Speaks'', ''My Father Perceived as a Vision of St Francis'' and ''The Wounded Child'' among them. They show an artist at the height of her powers producing work of "remarkable candour and ... stunning lyricism" (The Colby Quarterly).Paula Meehan was born in 1955 in Dublin where she still lives. Besides six collections of poems, the most recent of which are Dharmakaya (2000) and Painting Rain (2009), she has also written plays for both adults and children and conducted residencies in universities, in prisons and in the wider community. Paula Meehan is a member of Aosdána and the recipient of a number of awards, including the Marten Toonder Award for Literature in 1995 and the Denis Devlin Memorial Award in 2001.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE TS ELIOT PRIZE FOR POETRY 2020 WINNER OF THE SCOTTISH BOOK AWARDS' POETRY BOOK OF THE YEAR A POETRY BOOK SOCIETY RECOMMENDATION SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN POLLARD FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE "Whip-smart, sonically gorgeous" - Rae Armantrout, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning Versed When Louis Pasteur observed the process of fermentation, he noted that, while most organisms perished from lack of oxygen, some were able to thrive as 'life without air'. In this capricious, dreamlike collection, characters and scenes traverse states of airlessness, from suffocating relationships and institutions, to toxic environments and ecstatic asphyxiations. Both compassionate and ecologically nuanced, this innovative collection bridges poetry and prose to interrogate the conditions necessary for survival.Trade ReviewLafarge's is a fierce, clear-eyed poetry that expresses the sticky relationality between human pain and non-human destruction; the unsettling intimacy of our shared afflictions * Guardian *Startlingly fresh, at once assertive and tender, light and dark, she manages to be consistently surprising-often in unexpected ways. The range of work showcased here is impressive in itself; add the dry wit, a flare for the surreal and bright flashes of lost reality [...] and try not to be wholly engaged, refreshed and enthused -- Janice Galloway'Daisy Lafarge's Life Without Air is a whip-smart, sonically gorgeous exploration of the personal, cultural, and historical ties that bind us in literally and figuratively toxic relationships. From the marram beach grass that supports the dunes that threaten to choke it in "Desecration Air" to the toxic lakes created by rare earth mining that power our "green" technologies in "Dredging Baotou Lake," Lafarge shows us how deeply embedded we are with what harms us. These poems are as subtle and complex as the insidious relationships they illustrate. Life Without Air is the right book for our far-gone moment -- Rae Armantrout, author of Pulitzer Prized winning * Versed *The eye's visual field is only 5%, only 5% of what we see is in focus. Daisy Lafarge's poems specialise in reclaiming what we lose to habitual perception, and her language has the directness and exactitude of a specialised lexis; not jargon, but a methodical application to its subject. Daisy's poems look through a microscope: her language like a lens delicately rendering to make sense of things; a view so complicated by its alert optics and detailing that we lose an ordinary sense of what it is we're looking at; but what we gain is a heightened sense of its surfaces, its light, its mechanics. We exchange the outlines of life for a small, truer piece of the matter itself. Like pond water pushed through a soda stream, or language diffusing through the permeable membrane of the wall of the cell, exchanging complex sugars, changing its behaviour -- Jack Underwood, author of * Happiness *Warm-blooded and intimate as much as it is mind-expanding * New Statesman *A vivid and evocative collection... Fusing science, literature and art, Lafarge intellectually explores the ecosystem that human environments can permeate... Lafarge has set the bar high with this wonderful debut collection * The Fountain *This book's poetry deftly melds nonhuman, environmental exploration with biting considerations of misogyny and toxic relationships. It's fiercely original, strange and vital -- Books of the Year * Ignota *

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