"Their verse . . . is strikingly different. Michael's poems are interior, fragmentary, and austere, often stripped down to single-word lines; they seethe with incipient violence. Matthew's are effusive, ecstatic, and all-embracing, spilling over with pop-cultural references and exuberant carnality." —The New Yorker Identical twins Michael and Matthew Dickman once invented their own language. Now they have invented an exhilarating book of poem-plays about the fifty states. Pointed, comic, and surreal, these one-page vignettes feature unusual staging and an eclectic cast of characters—landforms, lobsters, and historical figures including Duke Ellington, Sacajawea, Judy Garland, and Kenneth Koch, the avant-garde spirit informing this book introduced by playwright John Guare. "Lucky in Kansas" Judy Garland: This is always the worst part Tin Man: The coming back Judy Garland: Yes, it fucking sucks, it's depressing as shit The Lion: Well, we're lucky to still be employed at this farm Straw Man: I wouldn't call it lucky The Lion: We were lucky to get back Straw Man: That's not really lucky either I don't think you know what lucky means Judy Garland: It's funny what you miss Tin Man: The running Judy Garland: The flying Tin Man: The flying monkeys Judy Garland: The beautiful flying monkeys above the endless emeralds the unbelievably green world Michael Dickman and Matthew Dickman are identical twins who were born and raised in Portland, Oregon. Michael received the 2010 James Laughlin Award for his second collection Flies (Copper Canyon Press, 2011). Matthew won the prestigious APR/Honickman Award for his debut volume, All-American Poem.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 26 most translated authors in the world.

Originally published as: Shakespeare: his work and his world / illustrated by Robert Ingpen. 2001.

Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English is a follow-up volume to the highly acclaimed Whetu Moana, the first anthology of Polynesian poems in English edited by Polynesians. The new book includes poetry written over the last 25 years by more than 80 writers from Aotearoa, Hawai'i, Tonga, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Tahiti and Rotuma &– some living in these islands and some dispersed around the globe. Together with works by established and celebrated poets, the editors have introduced the fresh voices of a younger generation. The anthology includes selections from poets including Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Sia Figiel, J. C. Sturm, Konai Helu Thaman, Haunani-Kay Trask, Hone Tuwhare and Albert Wendt. The late Hawaiian poet Wayne Kaumualii Westlake is represented here by a unique set of concrete poems and experimental verse. Tusiata Avia tells tales of Nafanua in different settings around the world; Rangi Faith imagines &‘First Landing'; Imaikalani Kalahele writes a letter to his brother; Brandy Nalani McDougall discusses &‘cooking Captain Cook'; Karlo Mila, eating chocolate, watches &‘paul holmes apologise for calling kofi annan a darkie'; Robert Sullivan writes against the grain; and Apirana Taylor follows zigzag roads. Ranging from the lyrical and sensual to the harsh and gritty, from the political to the personal, the poems in Mauri Ola are infused with vivid imagery, claims of identity, laments, rages and celebrations that confront again a colonial past and a global present.

Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose examines how readers interact with literary works, how they understand and are moved by them. Mick Short considers how meanings and effects are generated in the three major literary genres, carying out stylistic analysis of poetry, drama and prose fiction in turn. He analyses a wide range of extracts from English literature, adopting an accessible approach to the analysis of literary texts which can be applied easily to other texts in English and in other languages.

When I was a boy, I had a favourite treat. It was when my mum made . . . CHOCOLATE CAKE! Ohhh! I LOVED chocolate cake. Fantastically funny and full of silly noises, this is Michael Rosen's love letter to every child's favourite treat, chocolate cake. Brought to life as a picture book for the first time with brilliant and characterful illustrations by Kevin Waldron.