Books published by Faber & Faber

Linda France's tenth collection is galvanising, comprising poems written from, and into, the fabric of the sixth mass extinction. Here, beginnings end and endings begin, as we leap across time and space and encounter the inter-connected nature of emergency. France harnesses the power of innate ecological awareness, refreshing both individual and collective imaginations in order to create a lasting synergy between nature and culture. Grounded in seasonal fieldwork and close observation, these poems call for a rewilding of the self as well as the landscape: a momentous task, that, as France demonstrates, can only be achieved through the radical act of tenderness.

Tom Stoppard's take on the story of Penelope, in her own voice, published in pamphlet form with an introduction by the author.Let others sing of war and a hero buffeted by fate. I sing of marriage and a marriage bed, and the endurance of love.In this radiant prose-poem, Odysseus's wife tells of the long years awaiting her husband's return, and of his dramatic arrival back on the island of Ithaca.Weaving together the lush imagery of Homeric epic with a wryly modern wit and sensibility, Penelope's voice emerges in a wise and resonant retelling of an ancient, still vital love story.

'A gorgeous love story and a hilarious political novel about precarity and abuse in the era of late capitalism.' Neel Mukherjee, author of Man Booker Prize-shortlisted The Lives of Others'Zink's confidence and authority as a writer are evident from Avalon's killer first sentences.' LA TimesBran's Southern California upbringing is anything but traditional. After her mother abandons her and joins a Buddhist colony, Bran is raised by her 'common-law stepfather' on Bourdon Farms - a plant nursery that doubles as a cover for a biker gang. She spends her days tending plants, slogging through high school and imagining what life could be if she had been born to a different family.Then she meets Peter-a charming, troubled college student from the East Coast - who launches his teaching career by initiating her into the world of art. The two begin a seemingly doomed long-distance relationship as Bran searches for meaning in her own surroundings. She knows how to survive, but now she must learn how to live.'Zink is a comic writer par excellence.' New Yorker'An extraordinary talent.' Daily Telegraph

Zaffar Kunial is a proven master of taking things apart, polishing up the fugitive parts of single words, of a sound, a colour, the name of a flower, and putting them back together so that we see them in an entirely different light. In the poems of England's Greenwe are invited to look at the place and the language we think we know and made to think again. With everything so newly set, we are alert, as the poet is, to the 'dark missing/step in a stair', entering this new world with bated breath. By such close attention to the parts, the poems have a genius for invoking absence, whether that be a missing father, the death of a mother or a path not taken. Fully formed, they share a centre of gravity: migrations, memories, little transgressions and disturbances, summoned and contained in small gestures - a hand held, the smell of a newly bred rose or the scratch a limpet makes to mark its home.'Zaffar Kunial is a poet whose work thrills me, who makes you return to the origins of things, places, language and people again and again. He's a poet who takes traditions seriously but makes of them something entirely new - a must.' Jackie Kay

And so for anyone who didn't really know what it means to not be able to breathe, REALLY breathe, for generations, now you know. And those who already do, you'll be nodding yep yep, that is exactly how it is . . .Intimately set within the walls of a family home, this book is an incredible artefact of the historic year we have all lived through. We travel from the depths of despair but not without hope; the mundane details contained within four walls becomes our sanctuary. This is a gift in commemoration of a time and place, of a world wide pandemic, of loss and of the murder of George Floyd. It is a reminder of how, in uncertain times, we can cling to the simple things for respite, for hope. A reminder of how comforting books and artworks are in times of extreme stress.

Underwood Lane - the winter sun hangs like a suppurating boil glued to a giant sheet of dirty asbestos above the blackened tenements that rear up from the cobbled street like a row of broken teeth...Brilliantly funny and packed with iconic songs from the early Sixties, this is a new musical play from the writer of the classic Scottish masterpiece, The Slab Boys Trilogy. Telling the tale of a young skiffle band trying to make it, Underwood Lane has it all: style, fierce love rivalry, broken hearts, dodgy dealers, religion, sex and death. It is written in memory of the author's Paisley buddy, Gerry Rafferty, who was born and brought up on the titular street.John Byrne's Underwood Lane premiered in a co-production between Tron Theatre Company and OneRen with support from Renfrewshire Council's Future Paisley Programme. The play opened at Johnstone Town Hall, Johnstone, and transferred to the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, in July 2022.

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARIan Leslie's acclaimed new book reveals the secrets of how to disagree without fighting, and shows how mastering the techniques of productive disagreement can transform every aspect of our lives. 'One of my favourite writers . . . Beautifully argued, desperately needed.'MALCOLM GLADWELL'Invaluable. The world will be a better place if everyone reads this book.'PHILPPA PERRY'A cool bath of sanity in a world of frenzied hot takes.'HELEN LEWIS'Perspective-shifting in important ways.'OLIVER BURKEMANWhat is the secret of happy relationships?How do companies build collaborative cultures?What lies behind some of the greatest scientific and creative breakthroughs?The surprising answer is: conflict.Whether it's at work, at home or in public, confronting our differences is the only way to make the most out of them. How to Disagree is about how to do that successfully.Drawing on essential lessons from world-class experts on how to disagree well and combining them with inspiring stories of productive disagreements from science, technology and the arts, Ian Leslie reveals how we can reap the benefits of diverse viewpoints in an era that feels more divided than ever.'I nodded and underlined my way through the book's nearly 300 pages of eloquent, thoughtful advice . . . If you want to argue better, Leslie's manual will be invaluable.'THE TIMES'Leslie has a way of bringing fresh perspectives and telling anecdotes to obdurate subjects. Here he talks to everyone from hostage negotiators to divorce lawyers to show how conflict has driven successful companies and technological advances, and to offer ways to harness it in daily life.'NEW STATESMAN***How to Disagree was previously published in 2021 under the title Conflicted.

Of the twenty chapters that make up these Memoirs, seventeen appear here in print for the first time, unearthed by the editors from the Harvard Archive. They include intense depictions of Lowell's mental illness and his efforts to recover, and conclude with reminiscences of other writers - T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, John Berryman, Anne Sexton, Hannah Arendt, and Sylvia Plath. Memoirs demonstrates Lowell's expansive gifts as a prose stylist and provide further evidence of the range and brilliance of his achievement.

Tilla has spent her entire life trying to make her father love her. But every six months, he leaves their family and returns to his true home: the island of Jamaica.When Tilla's mother tells her she'll be spending the summer on the island, Tilla dreads the idea of seeing him again, but longs to discover what life in Jamaica has always held for him. In an unexpected turn of events, Tilla is forced to face the storm that unravels in her own life as she learns about the dark secrets that lie beyond the veil of paradise - all in the midst of an impending hurricane.Hurricane Summer is a powerful coming of age story that deals with colorism, classism, young love, the father-daughter dynamic--and what it means to discover your own voice in the center of complete destruction.

'Thought-provoking and charmingly rendered.' GuardianImagine a world where seductive male sirens lure brave heroines to their death, where Icara and her mother fly too close to the sun, and where beautiful men are forced to wed underworld queens...For thousands of years, Greek myths have been told and retold. In these stories, brutality and bravery are reserved for men, while women are wicked witches or helpless maidens. Today, these myths continue to shape our ideas about justice, tragedy and what makes a hero's journey. Karrie and Jonathan love these stories, and have found a way to breathe new life into them by making one crucial change...Following the incredible success of Gender Swapped Fairy Tales they have taken that same simple step. They haven't rewritten the stories in this book. They haven't reimagined the endings, or reinvented characters. What they have done is switch all the genders.You'll be enchanted by the refreshing world this swap creates - and thunderstruck by the new characters you're about to discover.

Passing the Baton: Conducting in the 21st Century explores the ways in which gender, culture and socio-economic status influence a conductor's language, career, confidence and even their body. With her own personal story at the heart, leading conductor Alice Farnham interviews conductors - both men and women - at different stages in their career, looking at what it takes to become a conductor. Alice has set many women on a path to the profession, and her book gives a particular voice to female conductors, what it takes to succeed, and just what the job entails. This is not a handbook for conducting, though it describes the job to the layman. A book for all music lovers, professional musicians and anyone interested in leadership.

Hello there, meow, and how do you do?It's a joy to be sharing my story with you.It's all about friendship, fine music and art,And a busker named Pete . . .When Blanksy the cat discovers a talent for painting murals he uses it to draw bigger and bigger crowds to help his friend Pete the busker become rich. But will money really make Pete happy?A hilarious and heart-warming story with fabulous illustrations by award-winning illustrator Allen Fatimaharan.

FROM THE WINNER OF THE 2021 PULITZER PRIZE IN POETRYWhen My Brother Was an Aztec is a work of courage and invention - one that foregrounds the particularities of family dynamics and individual passion against the backdrop of Western mythologies and a deeply rooted cultural history. Natalie Diaz's arresting debut explores a brother's addiction and its devastating effects on a household, while offering a political critique of our nations and their pasts. It acknowledges absences and uncomfortable silences, as well as conjuring vivid voices and presences, from Antigone and Houdini to Huitzilopochtli and Jesus.Stolen cowboy boots, violins on fire; a mariachi band playing in the bathroom, a black bayonet carried between the shoulder blades; the beauty of busted fruit, the sight of hellish visions - Diaz both revels and reveals through her distinctive use of language and imagery, bringing to life every intimate and communal encounter, blooming abundance from scarcity. The result is a wrenching portrayal of sacrifice, want, despair and fortitude that feels truly transformative.

The biggest middle grade fantasy debut of 2022.Beware of the shadows, the Reaper King is coming . . .Mia always dreamed of being an umbra tamer until she met the wild creature on the Nightmare Plains. Since that day, she prefers to stay safe within the walls of Nubis. Safe, that is, until a surprise attack. With her parents captured, Mia's only hope is to travel to the City of Light to find help. But with only her little brother, two friends and one solitary tamed umbra, the journey feels impossible. Mia not only has to overcome her fears, she also has to learn to harness her umbra taming abilities if they are to complete the quest in time.For fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, The Legend of Podkin One-Ear and Nevermoor, this is the first in the sensational Umbra Tales series, illustrated by Ana Latese.'A fresh, wild, gripping adventure.' Kieran Larwood, author of The Legend of Podkin One-Ear'A thrilling, highly imaginative and action-packed fantasy with family at its heart.' Louie Stowell, author of Otherland and Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good'Thrilling . . . a wonderful adventure.' L. D. Lapinski, author of The Strangeworlds Travel Agency

The first figure raises his crossbow, tilting his head to pinpoint the exact position of the thing in the bushes. It has stopped running now, and is muttering something. Some kind of prayer, a call for its mother, its father: anyone who might help it.Something sinister is going on in the stinking slums of London. Sideshow acts are going missing . . . men wearing animal masks and eye goggles are hunting them down and killing them for sport. But who are this fiendish Hunters' Club? And what is the reason for their cruel game?Sheba the wolfgirl and Pyewacket the witch's imp know all about life in a sideshow. But now they are the Carnival, private investigators working to help unusual people like them. Teaming up with new recruits half-cat Inji, her extraordinary brother, the armadillo-like Sil and Glyph the psychic, it's a race against time . . . to track down the mask-wearing villains, before anyone else comes to harm!

'Delightfully witty . . . Luminously intelligent . . . Odysseus Abroad has placed itself, with erudition and playfulness, on the map of modernism.' Guardian1985: twenty-two year old Ananda is a student adrift in Thatcher's Britain, homesick and isolated. His eccentric uncle, Radhesh, is a magnificent failure and an eccentric virgin who has lived in genteel impoverishment in Hampstead for nearly three decades. Over the course of one day, Odysseus Abroad follows the two isolated men on one of their weekly forays, gradually revealing the background to the two men's lives with deft precision and humour as they traverse London together, circling around their respective pasts and futures, and finding in one another an unspoken solace.

A beguiling, short and yet sweeping prose-poem, Afternoon Raag is the account of a young Bengali man studying at Oxford University and caught in complicated love triangle. His loneliness and melancholy sharpen his memories of home, which come back to haunt him in vivid, sensory detail. Intensely moving, superbly written, Afternoon Raag is a testimony to the clash of the old and the new; arrivals and departures.With an introduction by James Wood

On EVERY PAGE you will find:Guaranteed laughs! Stylish two-colour illustrations!General PANDAmonium! Lin the panda is on a mission: to find her best friend, Fu. He's disappeared from the zoo! Has he been stolen by the Horrid Human? Only her badness can help her find him . . . Luckily this panda is as fearless as she is fluffy! Just don't call her 'cute' . . .

Serge Diaghilev was the Russian impresario who is often said to have invented the modern art form of ballet. Commissioning such legendary names as Nijinsky, Fokine, Stravinsky, and Picasso, this intriguingly complex genius produced a series of radically original art works that had a revolutionary impact throughout the western world.Off stage and in its wake came scandal and sensation, as the great artists and mercurial performers involved variously collaborated, clashed, competed while falling in and out of love with each other on a wild carousel of sexual intrigue and temperamental mayhem. The Ballets Russes not only left a matchless artistic legacy - they changed style and glamour, they changed taste, and they changed social behaviour.The Ballets Russes came to an official end after many vicissitudes with Diaghilev's abrupt death in 1929. But the achievements of its heroic prime had established a paradigm that would continue to define the terms and set the standards for the next. Published to mark the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Diaghilev's birth, Rupert Christiansen - leading critic and self-confessed 'incurable balletomane' - presents this freshly researched and challenging reassessment of a unique phenomenon, exploring passionate conflicts and outsize personalities in a story embracing triumph and disaster.

The volume's 'Intro' charts these projects and the blurred origins of ritualised language, while its 'Outro' offers contextualising notes and anecdotal insights. Never Good with Horses further demonstrates the rich range of Armitage's repertoire and celebrates his ear for the music of language, harnessed here for the page.

Margaret walks us along the promenade, peeks into the baths and even dares a trip on the love boat in this, her first seaside summer season, on a path more dangerous than she could ever have imagined. Readers are loving The Misadventures of Margaret Finch:***** 'Fascinating.

A provocative and rousing essay collection from one of Europe's greatest writers. The people of Central Europe cannot be separated from European history;

In Mars By 1980, David Stubbs charts the evolution of electronic music from the earliest mechanical experiments in the late nineteenth century, through to the familiar sounds of electronica, house and techno that we know today.

A hundred years before the Lionesses, Lily Parr, Alice Woods and their teammates were proudly playing their beloved, exciting and skilful game. They can take our ball, but they can never stop the game. As men were sent to fight in the war, women and girls took their place in munitions factories.

Handbags, hairspray and sensible shoes.The monarch - Liz.Her most powerful subject - Maggie.One believed there was no such thing as society. The other had vowed to serve it.Opening the clasp on the antipathy between two giants of the twentieth century, Handbagged by Moira Buffini premiered at the Tricycle Theatre in September 2013.

Best known as a fine composer, the twelfth-century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen was also a religious leader and visionary, a poet, naturalist and writer of medical treatises. This book paints a portrait of her extraordinary life against the turbulent medieval background of crusade and schism, scientific discovery and cultural revolution.