Poetry

* Finalist for the Headmistress Press Charlotte Mew Prize Renée Vivien (née Pauline Mary Tarn, 1877-1909) was an English expatriate who made her home in Paris during the Belle Époque. In 1903, Vivien's collection of translations and adaptations from the Ancient Greek poetry of Sappho became one of the first works of modern European lesbian literature to be published by a lesbian writer under her real name. This courageous act was the death-sentence of her literary career. Parisian critics who had praised the mysterious "R. Vivien" as a young man of poetic genius began to snub at first and then simply ignore the newly un-closeted woman poet. Even in the face of ridicule and disrespect, Vivien continued to write and publish poetry, short stories, translations, plays, epigrams, and a novel based on her real-life romances with Natalie Clifford Barney and the Baroness Hélène van Zuylen van Nyevelt van Haar (née Rothschild). Vivien's poetry is now available in English translation by Samantha Pious: A Crown of Violets (Headmistress Press, 2015). I think it's very rare to encounter a new lesbian poet through translation and I am very excited to support this collection in its positive obsession and literary innovation alike. If it is that we are encouraged to each become the lover of Renée Vivien through her work, then this translator has succeeded in making the poet's wishes as transparent as an invitation can be: "The nave has been adorned to welcome you aright."Meg Day, Judge of the Charlotte Mew Prize This is an invaluable collection that brings Renée Vivien to life for English-speaking readers. Émigrée and sexual adventurer, Vivien wrote poetry strewn with broken harps and beautiful corpses. Pious's delicate but fearless translations draw out the bruised passions and troubadour rhythms that make Vivien essential reading for anyone interested in lesbian literature, fin-de-siècle poetics, or the agonies of sensual love.Kate Thomas, author of Postal Pleasures: Sex, Scandal and Victorian Letters

The highly anticipated debut book of poetry from singer, songwriter, artist and poet Lana Del Rey, Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass. 'Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass is the title poem of the book and the first poem I wrote of many. Some of which came to me in their entirety, which I dictated and then typed out, and some that I worked laboriously picking apart each word to make the perfect poem. They are eclectic and honest and not trying to be anything other than what they are and for that reason I'm proud of them, especially because the spirit in which they were written was very authentic,' Lana Del Rey. Lana’s breathtaking first book solidifies her further as 'the essential writer of her times' (The Atlantic). The collection features more than thirty poems, many exclusive to the book: Never to Heaven, The Land of 1,000 Fires, Past the Bushes Cypress Thriving, LA Who Am I to Love You?, Tessa DiPietro, Happy, Paradise Is Very Fragile, Bare Feet on Linoleum and many more. This beautiful hardcover edition showcases Lana’s typewritten manuscript pages alongside her original photography. The result is an extraordinary poetic landscape that reflects the unguarded spirit of its creator.

The story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca and his voyage back home following the cessation of the Trojan War.

Imagine, first, a forest full of snow... This is the story of a unique generation of violins. It begins in the silence of snow-filled forests and brings us to the chatter and traffic of a twenty-first century city.  It is the story of their maker, Antonio Stradivari, the sparkling young prodigy who did his greatest work late in life, lifting music from the silence of all he had lost. It is also the story of all of us. Of the passions that flicker through our lives, and what might unfold if we chase them. It is the story of how our greatest loves will outlive us, if only we will let them go.Intimate and eternal, Songs of Snow and Silence by Jen Emery captures the solitary song of a woodlark, the crackle of a campfire and the echoing laughter around it. This is a voice steeped in ancient wisdom, made fresh by a grit and bright wit. Loreto Ruiz''s exquisite paintings bring alive in colour and movement the music, time, and emotions that shape this work, offering a soaring beauty and empathy that transcends words.Have you lived long enough yet to know what it is to wake, stiff and cold before dawn by a burned down fire?

Hannah Lowe taught for a decade in an inner-city London sixth form. At the heart of this book of compassionate and energetic sonnets are 'The Kids', her students, the teenagers she nurtured. But the poems go further, meeting her own child self as she comes of age in 80s and 90s. Winner of the Costa Poetry Award, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize.

Organized in four sections Inception, Longing, Chaos, and Epiphany K.Y. Robinsons debut poetry collection explores what it is to want in spite of trauma, shame, injustice, and mental illness. It is one survivors powerful testimony, and a love letter to those who lie awake burning.

The poems of Nocturnal are constellations to guide those on a journey of healing and self-discovery, no matter how dark the night.

A beautiful and sustaining volume of poetry which offers inspiration for funeral readings.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.'Greedily she engorged without restraint,And knew not eating death;'Milton's Paradise Lost is a poem of epic proportions that tells of Satan's attempts to mislead Eve into disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, by eating from the tree of knowledge. His interpretation of the biblical story of Genesis is vivid and intense in its language, justifying the actions of God to men. In his sequel poem, Paradise Regained, Milton shows Satan trying to seduce Jesus in a similar way to Eve, but ultimately failing as Jesus remains steadfast.

The final installment in this bestselling series completes the journey that Courtney Peppernell began with Pillow Thoughts. With 600,000 copies sold across the series, Pillow Thoughts continues to inspire all who dip into Courtney's encouraging words.

New Writing Scotland is the principal forum for poetry and short fiction in Scotland today. Every year it publishes the very best from both emerging and established writers, and lists many of the leading literary lights of Scotland among its past (and present) contributors.

Bearslayer; A free translation from the unrhymed Latvian into English heroic verse , has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Hugely influential amongst the Danish "80's poets," Michael Strunge created an incredible body of work before his tragically early death. Speed of Life was originally published in 1978, his first collection of poetry.

Commissioned by the BBC, and described by Dylan Thomas as 'a play for voices', UNDER MILK WOOD takes the form of an emotive and hilarious account of a spring day in the fictional Welsh seaside village of Llareggub. We learn of the inhabitants' dreams and desires, their loves and regrets. The play introduces us to characters such as Captain Cat who dreams of his drowned former seafellows and Nogood Boyo who dreams of nothing at all. It is a unique and touching depiction of a village that has 'fallen head over bells in love'. The First Voice narration reveals the ordinary world of daily happenings and events, while the Second Voice conveys the intimate, innermost thoughts of the fascinating folk of Llareggub.There have been myriad productions of UNDER MILK WOOD over the years and Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth Taylor, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Tom Jones have all starred in radio, stage or film adaptations.Dylan Thomas's classic radio play reprinted to celebrate the centenary of his birth. A true masterpiece that has never been out of print.

"My scars are a compassPointing toward my pains.Please handle with care."True North by Gabrielle G.In this collection of poems, Gabrielle G. embarks on a journey of mental health, going through different stages of dejection while trying to find her way back to whom she used to be.Divided into eleven chapters depicting the ups and downs of depression, Melancholy & Cinnamon shows the hell many of us have been through and the hardship we need to embrace in order to evolve.A must-read for poetry lovers struggling or supporting someone who struggles with mental health.

A poetry collection pulling from the author''s personal narrative to take the reader on a journey through family, mental health, grief, pop culture, body image, queer identity, love, joy, memory, myth, and magic. The collection follows a trajectory of 1) exploring identity, avoidance, escapism, and shame, then 2) facing and confronting fears, shame, grief, and self-image, and finally 3) breaking down stigma, searching for joy, finding self-acceptance, and the value of storytelling and sharing as a tool to connect, love, and choose progress.

more recent luminaries include Brecht, Cavafy, Gabriela Mistral, Dylan Thomas, Iku Takenaka, Pablo Neruda, Wislawa Szymborska, Anne Stevenson, Maya Angelou, Derek Walcott, John Burnside and Ian McMillan.

A selective yet wide-ranging anthology of concrete poetry edited by curator Nancy Perloff, which redefines what the concrete poetry movement means today.