The "World" in Robert Lee Brewer's Solving the World's Problems is a slippery world ... where chaos always hovers near, where we are (and should be) "splashing around in dark puddles." And one feels a bit dizzy reading these poems because (while always clear, always full of meaning) they come at reality slantwise so that nothing is quite the same and the reader comes away with a new way of looking at the ordinary objects and events of life. The poems are brim-full of surprises and delights, twists in the language, double-meanings of words, leaps of thought and imagination, interesting line-breaks. There are love and relationship poems, dream poems, poems of life in the modern world. And always the sense (as he writes) of "pulling the world closer to me/leaves falling to the ground/ birds flying south." I read these once, twice with great enjoyment. I will go back to them often. -Patricia Fargnoli, former Poet Laureate of New Hampshire and author of Then, Something

In Round, she writes: "Let's get married, Rita says. / She puts her head in Jimmy's lap, / nuzzles his balls through his underwear. / The guy on the ropes goes down. / He pushes her away. / Her voice / in his ear now, drowning out / the count. Marry me, Jimmy. / He sees the crowd / on its feet, screaming, / him just lying there."

Autobiographical sketches and stories from India's best-loved writer in English. For over four decades now, by way of innumerable short stories, essays, poems and novels, Ruskin Bond has championed simplicity and quietude in life and in art. This collection of essays and episodes from his journals is, in his own words, "a celebration of my survival as a freelance'. The author's early forays into the literary magazines of the 1950s and '60s are described in the first part of the book, along with some examples of his work at the time. The sections that follow contain extracts from an unpublished travel journal he kept during the '60s, episodes from the highways on which he was a frequent traveller, and vignettes of life in Mussoorie, past and present. With understated humour and compassion, Ruskin Bond records the charming eccentricities of friends and acquaintances (a former princess cheerfully obsessed with death and disaster); the silent miracles of nature ("New moon in a purple sky'); life's little joys (the smell of onions frying) and its fleeting regrets. Nostalgic and heart-warming, full of wisdom and charm, The Lamp is Lit provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of "our very own resident Wordsworth in prose.

Thrall examines the deeply ingrained and often unexamined notions of racial difference across time and space. Through a consideration of historical documents and paintings, Natasha Trethewey--Pulitzer-prize winning author of Native Guard--highlight the contours and complexities of her relationship with her white father and the ongoing history of race in America.

Write a poem every week. Let your verse begin to speak. Allow this book to support you every step of the way towards success as a poet, whilst deepening your skill and developing your craft from inspiration through to publication. You will be helped to generate poetry writing ideas and will write an average of one poem a week. Throughout this process you will be developing your writing talent, and editing and submission advice will ensure you are ready for publication. This course is derived from the classroom and written by Maria Frankland, a creative writing teacher with a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. She is the author of four domestic thrillers, two poetry collections and a memoir. Here's what the course contains: Part One - Planning and Investigating Form Generating Ideas The Vital Ingredients of a Poem The Vital Ingredients of a Poetry Collection Rhythm and Rhyme The Haiku The Tanka The Sonnet Free Verse Terza Rima Villanelle Part Two - Content and Development of Skills Using Art as an Inspiration Using Music as Inspiration Using Artefacts as Inspiration Using own Experience as Inspiration (Autobiographical Poetry) Writing Love Poetry - Making it Original Using Metaphor and Simile Shape Poetry Landscape Poetry 'Inverted' Poetry Extended Personification within a Poem Part Three - The Professional Poet Having the Reader in Mind whilst Writing Editing Poetry and Tightening Writing Putting it all Together - Assembling and Ordering your Work Typesetting, Presentation and Perfecting your Manuscript Networking as a Poet - Open Mics and Other Events Creating an On-line Author Platform Publishing - Traditional and Independent The Cover Letter Next Steps Here's what other writers say about 'Write a Collection of Poetry in a Year:' "This is a course that does exactly what it says on the tin." "This is a clear and flexible, programme offering an introduction to a variety of poetry in its diverse forms. It develops skill as a poet and shows not only how to write but how to present work professionally and make money from poems." "This poetry course is without doubt one of the best things I have ever done and has enriched my life in many ways. This course can be taken in conjunction with its companion workbook. (Workbook available in paperback only.)

"The girl I was ten years ago has not yet read this gorgeous, important work, but the future is closer than she thinks, and besides, this is a book that can sing through the years. You, too, need this book. When the future might feel simply cold, Franny Choi gifts us complex fire." - Lo Kwa Mei-En, author of The Bees Make Money in the Lion

Deborah Bacharach's very contemporary book of poetry uses references to biblical stories in order to illuminate the relationships between men and women, their difficulties and complications. It's a bold book of loss and survival, betrayal and love, a book about work and about humanity. Abraham and Sarah are here, as well as Lot and his wife, Hagar, Potiphar, and others. Modern-day lovers are here too, along with struggles and satisfactions that are universal.