Poetry Essays

To overcome a crisis of melancholy after the death of his father, Montaigne withdrew to his country estates and began to write, and in the highly original essays that resulted he discussed themes such as fathers and children, conscience and cowardice, coaches and cannibals, and, above all, himself.

Brought to you by Penguin. The articles collected in George Orwell's Essays illuminate the life and work of one of the most individual writers of this century - a man who elevated political writing to an art. This outstanding collection brings together Orwell's longer, major essays and a fine...

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), 1st Viscount St Albans, Attorney General and then Lord Chancellor of England, was an immensely learned, clever and ambitious man, with considerable political influence. However, he was also a philosopher with a wide interest in science, medicine and the classification of knowledge. Throughout his life he wrote a series of essays - following the manner set particularly by Montaigne, though extending back to Aristotle and others - the first 10 of which appeared in 1597.

Aleister Crowley left behind a literary legacy of hundreds of examples of his authorship, in diverse categories of writing. Collected here is a sampling of those writings.

Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying collection of essays that record the small joys that occurred in one year, from birthday to birthday, and that we often overlook in our busy lives. His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, in his life, including living in America as a Black man; the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture; the loss of those he loves. 

In this Very Short Introduction, Bernard O'Donoghue provides a fascinating look at the many different forms of writing which have been called "poetry" - from the Greeks to the present day. As well as questioning what poetry is, he asks what poetry is for, and considers contemporary debates on its value. Is there a universality to poetry? And does it have a duty of public utility and responsibility?

In this audiobook Maria Popova, creator of The Marginalian, presents a celebration of the human search for truth and beauty through the lenses of science and poetry. Poetry and science, as Popova writes in her introduction, "are instruments for knowing the world more intimately and loving it...

A 6-Week Artist’s Way Program Julia Cameron has been teaching the world about creativity since her seminal book, The Artist’s Way, first broke open the conversation around art. Now, in Write for Life, she turns to one of the subjects closest to her heart: the art and practice of writing...

In Love You, Bye, award-winning author Brenda Miller maps the territory of caregiving, loss, and unexpected grace. The title—drawn from the simple phrase she and her mother said to each other for years—captures the bittersweet essence of a book that finds profound meaning in the most ordinary expressions of love.

From bestselling author of The Book of Delights and award-winning poet, a book of lyrical mini-essays celebrating the everyday that will inspire readers to rediscover the joys in the world around us. Ross Gay’s essays have been called “exquisite” (Tracy K. Smith), “imperative” (the New...

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and his ideology was disseminated through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures. Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of transcendentalism in his 1836 essay Nature.

Fundamentally, this audiobook isn't "about" anything but submission of a poetry and prose collection that had to be a world level thank you letter to American artist Charles Bukowski whom I had found later in life as a reminder that there was no doing this right. "This" refers to the notion of what it means to be a writer, as the pieces encompassing this collection stem from realization of a rooted "no effort" and invasive take over in the course of my life.

A simple writing style coupled with almost prophetic content characterize George Orwell's works. Orwell's most famous pieces include the satirical novel Animal Farm and dystopian masterpiece 1984. His colorful autobiographical novel Down and Out in Paris and London is also an unforgettable read. Throughout his writings, Orwell accurately and scathingly criticized totalitarianism while supporting democratic socialism.

From the National Book Award–winning author of Lighthead, Terrance Hayes, a fascinating collection of graphic reviews and illustrated prose addressing the last century of American poetry—to be published simultaneously with his latest poetry collection, So to Speak Canonized, overlooked, and...

Transcendentalism embodies the concept that people have a deeper and more profound understanding of the world around them than simply by what they can glimpse with their senses. In this collection of essays and poems, the works of three transcendentalist authors are shared, each with their own impressions and opinions supporting the movement.

Since 1998, the Alfred A. Knopf Publishing Group has celebrated National Poetry Month by emailing a poem-a-day throughout the month of April to over 25,000 devoted poetry fans. In April 2006, Knopf introduced the Poem-a-Day podcast, which featured poets including Kevin Young and James Merrill...

Life in Every Word, a new William Collins book, full description to follow when available...

In Struck Inside Out, writer and blogger Danielle Bertoli delivers lessons on cultivating daily inspiration, overcoming heartbreak, and loving yourself unconditionally. This moving companion offers reminders that no matter what you’re going through, you can handle it. Through reflections in poetry and prose, Danielle shares her story of overcoming obstacles to transform self-doubt into self-love.

African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. It begins with the works of such late 18th-century writers as Phillis Wheatley. Before the high point of enslaved people narratives, African-American literature was dominated by autobiographical spiritual narratives. The genre known as slave narratives in the 19th century were accounts by people who had generally escaped from slavery, about their journeys to freedom and ways they claimed their lives.

Poems, essays, and prompts to sing a new world into being--Queer & BIPOC perspectives on poetry as an insurgent ritual for manifesting liberation and reclaiming power. For poets, spellcasters, and social justice witches, Poetry as Spellcasting positions poetry as a vehicle for healing-justice...