Author: Neil Astley
Brand: Bloodaxe Books
Edition: First Edition
Format: Import
Number Of Pages: 496
Release Date: 27-06-2002
Details: 'I love Staying Alive and keep going back to it.' - Meryl Streep Staying Alive is an international anthology of 500 life-affirming poems fired by belief in the human and the spiritual at a time when much in the world feels unreal, inhuman and hollow. These are poems of great personal force connecting our aspirations with our humanity, helping us stay alive to the world and stay true to ourselves. Many people turn to poetry only at unreal times, whether for consolation in loss or affirmation in love, or when facing other extremes and anxieties. Staying Alive includes many of the great modern love poems and elegies, but it also shows the power of poetry in celebrating the ordinary miracle, taking you on a journey around many of the different aspects of everyday life explored in poems. A strong poem is not just for crisis. Such a poem is there for all times, helping us face or embrace daily change and disruption. It will also speak to us when nothing seems to be happening, when the poem's importance is in helping us stay alive to the world and stay true to ourselves. Staying Alive has reached a wider readership than any other anthology of contemporary poetry. It is a landmark in the history of literary publishing. Staying Alive was followed by companion anthologies Being Alive (2004), Being Human (2011), and Staying Human (2020), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation for Winter 2020. These anthologies have been welcomed not only by poets but by a wide range of well-known people respected for their work in fields other than poetry - all avid readers of poetry. ‘If you are going to buy one anthology of contemporary poetry, let it be this one. You will come across a depth of feelings and themes and a range of new writers that will break your heart and build it back up at the same time. Whether you know you love poetry or think you don’t, this book is for you. The title says it all.’ – Esylit Parry Lowther, Varsity, recommending Staying Alive ‘I often give people Staying Alive or any other anthology in that Bloodaxe series, so brilliantly edited by Neil Astley. There’s a poem for everyone there.’ – Jane Clarke
EAN: 9781852245887
Languages: English
Binding: paperback
Item Condition: New