The foreign debt of English literature
A tapestry of English letters is rarely woven from threads spun solely on home soil. Beneath the familiar cadence of Victorian prose and the resonant voices of nineteenth-century England, there lies a vibrant undercurrent: the enduring influence of foreign literature and the dynamic cross-cultural literary exchange that shaped an entire era. This masterful work, long unavailable and now republished by Alpha Editions, restores a crucial perspective to the ongoing conversation about English literary criticism and comparative literature study. Here, readers are invited to trace the subtle yet profound ways in which European literary traditions-French, German, Italian, and beyond-left their imprint on the evolution of English thought and artistry. With the meticulous insight characteristic of Cambridge literary scholarship, the author explores how the ideas and aesthetics of continental writers informed and sometimes challenged the prevailing narratives of English literary history analysis. The result is a nuanced portrait of intellectual curiosity and cultural borrowing, revealing how figures such as Matthew Arnold drew inspiration from abroad to enrich the fabric of Victorian literary studies. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure, painstakingly restored for today's and future generations. For scholars and academics, as well as those drawn to the drama of university literature courses, this book offers a rare opportunity to engage directly with the questions that continue to animate the field: What does it mean for a national literature to be indebted to others? How do the boundaries of influence shift across time and place? Both casual readers and classic-collection buyers will find themselves immersed in a compelling exploration of the forces that have shaped English letters from within and without.
The Later Renaissance
A flicker of candlelight on frescoed walls, the hush of scholars debating beneath vaulted ceilings-such is the world summoned within these pages, where the Renaissance's later flowering is rendered with rare intimacy and depth. In an age when Europe stood poised between medieval tradition and modern innovation, a surge of humanism and literature reshaped not only art and philosophy but the very fabric of daily life. This renaissance history book is more than a chronicle of events; it is a vivid exploration of the minds and masterpieces that defined sixteenth century Europe, from the grandeur of Italian renaissance art to the subtle shifts in thought that heralded the early modern period. Long unavailable and out of print for decades, this work now returns to readers, republished by Alpha Editions and meticulously restored for today's and future generations. Its pages pulse with the intellectual energy that swept across courts and cities, influencing everyone from artists and poets to statesmen and scientists. Drawing on the enduring influence of Jacob Burckhardt, the narrative delves into the cultural currents that shaped European identity, inviting both the curious newcomer and the seasoned academic to reconsider the Renaissance as a living, evolving force. For history students seeking a reliable resource or collectors in pursuit of a true academic research material, this edition stands apart-not just a reprint, but a collector's item and a cultural treasure. Its nuanced perspective on renaissance philosophy and its careful attention to the interplay between art, power, and society ensure its place as an essential art history reference. Whether you are drawn by the allure of renaissance era studies or the enduring questions of human creativity, this book offers a window into a world where the past still speaks-vivid, complex, and utterly captivating.
G K Chesterton's Autobiography
A man walks through Edwardian England, tipping his hat to paradox and shadowboxing with the certainties of his age. In these pages, the reader encounters not only the tumultuous journey of a singular mind but the living pulse of early 20th century literature itself. Wry, luminous, and deeply personal, this literary autobiography captures the confessions and convictions of a thinker whose wit and candour shaped the cultural landscape of his time. From the fog-laden streets of Victorian era London to the lively salons where catholic intellectual history was forged, his reflections ripple with social commentary that remains startlingly relevant. Every anecdote, every aside, is a window into the making of a literary giant whose friendships with figures like C S Lewis and Hilaire Belloc defined an era. Restored for today's and future generations, this edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure. With deft storytelling and a keen eye for the absurdities of life, the memoir invites both biography enthusiasts and literary scholars to savour its wit and wisdom. The narrative meanders through the joys and perplexities of faith, art, and English memoir, offering a rare glimpse into the heart of a man who saw the world with both innocence and irony. His personal reflections illuminate the shifting mores of Edwardian England, while his humour and humility offer solace and delight to modern readers. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions, ensuring its enduring voice is heard anew. For those drawn to the crossroads of social change and timeless insight, this restored masterpiece is both a testament to the enduring power of personal narrative and a vital artefact for any classic collection.
The Other Inklings
Discover the untold story behind the Inklings-and meet the scholars keeping their legacy alive.You know the names: C.S. Lewis. Charles Williams. Owen Barfield. George MacDonald. But the story doesn't end there.In The Other Inklings, G. Connor Salter takes readers deep into the world of Lewis and his circle-not through conventional biography, but through revealing interviews with the people who have spent their lives studying them. Scholars, poets, theologians, and novelists share what drew them to these writers and how their ideas continue to inspire new generations.Covering everything from fantasy and theology to ecology, Shakespeare, secret societies, and even William Lindsay Gresham's crime thriller Nightmare Alley, this book offers an unprecedented glimpse into the lively, eccentric, and sometimes unexpected world of "Inklings-adjacent" figures.Whether you're a lifelong fan of the Inklings or just discovering their work, The Other Inklings invites you into the living conversation-a fellowship that spans generations.Includes interviews with: Douglas A. Anderson - Owen A. Barfield - Charles Franklyn Beach - Jem Bloomfield - Jonathan Brielle - Michael J. Christensen - Gina Dalfonzo - Matthew Dickerson - David Llewellyn Dodds - Diego Domingo - Diana Pavlac Glyer - Douglas G. Greene - Trevor A. Hart - Stephen Hayes - S繪rina Higgins - Crystal Hurd - Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson - Don W. King - Landon Loftin - Catherine Madsen - Joyce McPherson - Paul E. Michelson - Anne-Fr矇d矇rique Mochel-Caballero - Bill Mullins - Dale J. Nelson - William O'Flaherty - Camilo Peralta - Robert "Bob" Pierce - Clayton Rawson Jr. - Joe Ricke - Zeena Schreck - Clark Sheldon - Rosemary Simmons - Charlie W. Starr - Sarah E. Thomson - Amanda B. Vernon - Alan M. Wald - Sarah Waters - Bret Wood
The Untranslatable Soul of the Sahara
Is the global Ibrahim al-Koni the real one?With over eighty works translated into more than forty languages, the "philosopher of the desert" has achieved global stature. Yet, as al-Koni himself lamented, his works have never reached the non-Arabic-speaking world "in their flesh and bone." The Untranslatable Soul of the Sahara is a profound investigation into this loss.This study argues that translating al-Koni is not merely a linguistic challenge but a cosmological rupture. His work is woven from three interdependent threads-Qur'anic resonance, Tuareg orality, and Sufi metaphysics-that form a coherent, self-sustaining universe. Through a meticulous "hermeneutic reading" of key novels like Gold Dust and The Bleeding of the Stone, and an in-depth analysis of his crystallized aphorisms, Dr. Saleh Belgacem Belhassen exposes what standard translations systematically filter out: the desert as a sentient protagonist, myth as lived epistemology, and the elemental metaphysics of water, blood, and the heart.Far from a condemnation of translation, this book is an invitation to approach al-Koni with humility. It reveals that the untranslatability of his work is not a failure but the very measure of its integrity-a sacred, unfathomable core that resists domestication and secures his lasting place in world literature.
تداخل الأجناس في الشعرية العربية
في مهبّ القصيدة.. حيث تذوب الحدودهل تساءلت يوماً لماذا تضيق القصيدة أحياناً بصدر الشاعر، وكأن الوزن والقافية والبحور التقليدية باتت زنزانة من ذهب؟ في هذا العمل، يأخذنا الباحث "جواد عامر" في رحلة استكشافية عميقة خلف كواليس "التمرد الجمالي"، حيث لم يعد الشعر مجرد كلامٍ موزون، بل أصبح وطناً تسكنه الرواية، ويؤثثه المسرح، وتضيء عتمته السينما.بأسلوبٍ يمزج بين صرامة البحث العلمي وعذوبة اللغة الأدبية، يفكك الكتاب لغز "تداخل الأجناس". إنه لا يتحدث عن مجرد "خلط" عشوائي للفنون، بل عن "امتصاص" شعري ذكي؛ كيف استطاعت القصيدة العربية المعاصرة أن تسرق من الرواية سردها، ومن المسرح حواره، ومن السينما لقطاتها الخاطفة، لتعيد صياغة وعينا بالعالم.بين دفتي هذا الكتاب، ستكتشف أن النص الحديث ه 
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
The essential portrait of America in the sixties, by the acclaimed author of The Year of Magical Thinking. More than a half century after its publication in 1968, Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem remains an essential portrait of America--and California in particular--during the sixties. This collection, which was Didion's nonfiction debut, is a bold announcement of one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era and includes pieces exploring such subjects as John Wayne and Howard Hughes; growing up in California; the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room; and San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture. The power of Didion's essays only grows over time, owing to her stature as "an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time, a memorable voice, partly eulogistic, partly despairing; always in control" (The New York Times Book Review).
New Rural Cinema
In the past decade, spanning from the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, rural poverty in the United States has risen dramatically. The impact of the pandemic is set to intensify these inequalities as the decades of neoliberal dismantling of public healthcare and other social institutions leave inhabitants of impoverished rural areas particularly vulnerable.Even before this current exacerbation, representations of rural landscape in American cinema have sought to spatially visualize the country's social inequalities and focus on the victims of poverty and marginalization. The films discussed in this monograph, Ballast (2008), Winter's Bone (2010), Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), and Leave No Trace (2018), address deep rural poverty in a complex manner and facilitate an interactive, social understanding of landscape.New Rural Cinema suggest a novel way of looking at landscape in cinema that responds to and guides its readers through this recent development in American Independent film. It views the chosen films as expressions of a growing awareness of the dire inequality caused by neoliberal capitalism in the United States and the role landscape plays both in its mechanisms of social exclusion as well as in its collective contestation.
Tales of Men
Tales of Men is a literary collection of biographical and reflective essays that portray influential Arab and Saudi figures through deeply personal, intellectual, and cultural encounters. Rather than presenting conventional biographies, the author constructs vivid narrative portraits that explore the moral, intellectual, and social climates that shaped these men and elevated them from "ordinary gentlemen" to "distinguished gentlemen."The book is divided into two main parts: Part One: The Last ClassThis section focuses primarily on elderly intellectuals, scholars, reformers, and public figures. The title suggests that these individuals are offering their "final lesson" to society before departure. Through intimate conversations and reflective storytelling, the author highlights their struggles, convictions, leadership, humility, and philosophical depth.Figures portrayed include scholars, educators, religious authorities, reformers, and cultural icons such as Sheikh Hamad Al-Jasser, Nasser Al-Rashed, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Baz, Ali Al-Tantawi, and others. The tone blends admiration with critical thought, avoiding both blind praise and harsh criticism.Part Two: Assorted TalesThe second section includes essays, elegies, and reflections on various personalities-some deceased, some living. These pieces expand beyond formal authority figures to include intellectuals, revolutionaries, writers, and social actors. The author often intertwines memory, literature, poetry, philosophy, and cultural critique, creating portraits that are both personal and analytical.The book's style is literary and reflective. It moves between narrative dialogue, historical reference, philosophical reflection, and subtle social commentary. It does not merely document lives; it explores the idea of "manhood," leadership, responsibility, intellectual courage, moral integrity, and the burden of influence.Overall, Tales of Men is a meditation on legacy, memory, culture, and the meaning of greatness within Arab and Islamic society.
The Light Candling the Mind
This book is the third book of CanLit essays published by QuodSermo Publishing by Miguel ?ngel Oliv矇 Iglesias. In the preface, the PhD professor Guillermo Ronda says: The book consists of review essay on contemporary Canadian authors. The extensive literary and academic production of Professor Miguel Oliv矇 is remarkable. Since 2018 he has authored, coauthored, edited, coedited, reviewed, revised or translated almost forty titles for various Publishers in Canada. I have been reading his publications since then, pleased that his sources of inspiration, his fortitude and his committed intellect have allowed him to overcome serious health problems and go on writing, leaving in print or electronically excellent material for the Canadian cultural mosaic.I wrote about his first two books of reviews and essays. It was only logical, and an honor for me, he would ask me, as a friend and colleague, to comment on his new book. I am more than privileged to do so, more than thrilled to speak about what has been a forever passion in Professor Oliv矇. He has compiled and harmonized in a single volume a large group of authors and books, covering from 1997 up to 2024 (plus a 19th-century classic, Pickthall, to open the book, and a contemporary icon, Crozier, to close it). Different publishers, styles, eyes, perspectives, themes, passions, moods, wordings-lives, have been invited to the book's pages. They give spirit, sense and future to the aspirations that the inveterate lovers of literature have always had.In a feat of democracy, Professor Oliv矇 brings together poetry, prose and image crafted by high-standing, established writers/artists and also by a promising list of men and women whose works follow in on the footsteps of the greats, and aim at continuing and improving their creative urges. I am impressed by Oliv矇's working capacity and passion in what he does. He has always claimed that he loves teaching, but we see too a teacher who has found his second cup of tea. Oliv矇 writes and publishes his academic papers, his own poetry and prose, yet supported and encouraged by Richard Grove (the book's publisher), he has discovered this new vein of creativity and has been writing reviews and essays almost around-the-clock.I revel in his fever and his devotion. I sing to his unending search for more and more authors to write about, in his generous concept of praising what they do because the act of writing is rewarding but also demanding. As he has said, he leaves the task of thorough literary criticism to specialists, who know more than he does about the circuitous trails of that job. For now, relish Professor Oliv矇's The Light Candling the Mind: A Journey across Canadian Literature. It is a truly felt journey of celebration and love, of acknowledgment and tribute.
In the Writers Words III
Laurence Hutchman's third volume of In the Writers' Words, makes a valuable contribution to Canadian literature, showcasing his interviews with eight significant poets of the contemporary period: Di Brandt, Herm矇n矇gilde Chiasson, Lorna Crozier, Mary Dalton, Keith Garebian, Robert Hilles, Liz Howard, and John Steffler. The poets speak in depth about their creative process, the development of their poetry, give detailed analysis of their aesthetics and poetic techniques, literary influences and share personal stories.
William Shakespeare: Hamlet Map
Follow us to Kronborg, the real-life model for Hamlet's castle in Denmark, shown here as it looked when the play was written. This richly illustrated map presents the castle and its surroundings with every scene marked. See the battlement where the ghost of Hamlet's father first appears, explore the great hall where the players may have performed or find the graveyard where Hamlet holds Yorick's skull.
L. M. Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables Map
This literary map takes you to Green Gables and its beautiful surroundings. Here you will find places such as the brook winding down from the woods, Lovers' Lane, the Lake of Shining Waters, and Violet Vale. Although Avonlea is a fictional place, it is loosely based on the real village of Cavendish, where L. M. Montgomery grew up. The map also shows nearby villages and the layout of Green Gables.
Collected articles
Collected Articles is a compilation of newspaper articles written by Hamza Qublan Al-Mozainy and originally published in Al-Watan and Al-Sharq newspapers in Saudi Arabia. The book brings together critical essays that address major linguistic, cultural, academic, and educational issues in the Arab world.A large portion of the book focuses on Arabic linguistics, including debates on Classical Arabic, dialects, linguistic identity, Arabization, and the role of English as a global scientific language. Al-Mozainy approaches these topics from a modern linguistic perspective, often challenging traditional assumptions and popular slogans surrounding language preservation.Another major theme is academic corruption, where the author critically examines fake degrees, diploma mills, research fraud, and unethical academic practices in universities. Through sharp analysis and real examples, the book exposes systemic problems in higher education and calls for intellectual honesty and reform.The author deliberately preserves the articles in their original form to reflect the intellectual and cultural context of the period in which they were written, making the book both a critical commentary and a historical record of contemporary Arab thought.
Why Odysseus?
This book examines the enduring appeal of Odysseus in artistic representation from antiquity to the present. The volume aims to provide a sense of how this character changes from ancient Greek myth through modern poetry, and how this capacity for change both perpetuates the motif of a mutable and devious character while reflecting essential anxieties over what it means to be a person. Why Odysseus? demonstrates that Odysseus was already a figure of dynamic reception in Homer's Odyssey, then examines his varied uses in antiquity, his resurgence in the twentieth century, and his flexibility in modern reception. It concludes with the challenges of translating the character from one period to the next. Why Odysseus? explores how a uniquely indeterminate character becomes an important "shifting signifier" for reflecting different periods' and peoples' values on what it means to survive--and sometimes thrive--in a world that is definitively non-heroic.
A Room of One's Own
Virginia Woolf's beloved classic, with a new foreword A Room of One's Own is an American classic that has been inspiring readers since its initial publication in 1929. Based on two lectures that Woolf delivered at the University of Cambridge, this collection of extended essays highlights the importance of education and independence for aspiring writers. Woolf calls for the inclusion of more female voices in the literary canon, and outlines the steps needed for more women to gain access to writing careers. Still relevant to this day, readers of all kinds will take inspiration from Woolf's commitment to creating inclusion in the creative space, and her dedication to creating art despite those who would deny her. With a new foreword by the poet and feminist Katha Pollitt, readers will gain insight into the ways that Virginia Woolfe's teachings still influence modern creatives.
The Prison-House of Language
A groundbreaking critical introduction to Structuralism and Russian Formalism by the acclaimed literary theorist In The Prison-House of Language, Fredric Jameson, one of the most important literary and cultural critics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, provides a thorough historical and philosophical introduction to Structuralism and Russian Formalism. Combining a survey of these influential critical movements and a critique of their methodology, Jameson lays bare their presuppositions, questioning whether the methods of Saussurean linguistics can adequately capture the concrete realities of time and history. The result is a unique and thought-provoking confrontation of two major strands of modern thought and a central work in the development of Jameson's monumental critical project.
Marxism and Form
An influential introduction to Marxist cultural criticism by the acclaimed literary theorist In Marxism and Form, Fredric Jameson, one of the most important literary and cultural critics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, offers a pioneering look at major European Marxist and Frankfurt School thinkers--Adorno, Benjamin, Marcuse, Bloch, Luk獺cs, and Sartre. Through penetrating readings, Jameson develops an influential mode of critical engagement that places art and culture at the heart of Marxist theory. The result lays the foundations for the entirety of Jameson's monumental critical project--and remains a timely and vital work of aesthetic criticism for readers today.
The Rub of Time
An expansive and incisive collection of essays and reportage from one of England's celebrated writers.Martin Amis spent decades turning his forensic intellect toward the absurdities, vanities, and occasional triumphs of modern life, and capturing it in inimitable prose. In The Rub of Time, a collection of his sharpest nonfiction from over twenty years, he trains his gaze on politics, literature, sports, and the spectacle of celebrity with a wit as lethal as it is precise. Here, Amis dissects the rise of Donald Trump with mordant amusement, penetrating the theatrical bluster and ominous undertones of American politics. He revisits literary titans Saul Bellow and Vladimir Nabokov, parsing their genius with the awe of a disciple and the rigor of a peer. From the war on terror to Brexit, from the British Royal Family to the modern American West, Amis blends personal reflection with razor-sharp cultural critique, always with his signature mix of erudition and dark comedy. The Rub of Time is Amis at his most incisive, irreverent, and unmissable.
Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy
Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy is a modern classic, appreciated by a wide readership, used in liturgy, and translated into more than a dozen languages. It is Leonard Cohen's modern psalter, in which he exposes his dialogue with the divine and the deepest struggles of his soul in its attempts to find peace, side by side with his erotic yearning and his concern for the world at large. Its intricate poetic language combines imagery from the wealth of the Jewish tradition in which the poet was raised, as well as his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation and his absorption in Christian imagery and in old and modern poetry. This book offers a detailed interpretation of Cohen's prose-poems, identifying the sources utilized by him in creating his unique take on the Psalms for our day and age. It is a book that will allow all readers to gain deeper understanding of Cohen's ideas and language in ways that will enrich their own spiritual lives.
Love and Need
A TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR Braiding together biography and criticism, Adam Plunkett challenges our understanding of Robert Frost's life and poetic legacy in a pathbreaking new work. By the middle of the twentieth century, Robert Frost was the best-loved poet in America. He was our nation's bard, simple and sincere, accompanying us on wooded roads and articulating our hopes and fears. After Frost's death, these clich矇s gave way to equally broad (though opposed) portraits sketched by his biographers, chief among them Lawrance Thompson. When the critic Helen Vendler reviewed Thompson's scathing biography, she asked whether anyone could avoid the conclusion that Frost was a "monster." In Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost's Poetry, Adam Plunkett blends biography and criticism to find the truth of Frost's life--one that lies between the two poles of perception. Plunkett reveals a new Frost through a careful reading of the poems and the people Frost knew best, showing how the stories of his most significant relationships, heretofore only partly told, mirror dominant themes of Frost's enduring poetry: withholding and disclosure, privacy and intimacy. Not least of these relationships is the fraught, intense friendship between Frost and Thompson, the major biographer whose record of Frost Plunkett seeks to set straight. Moving through Frost's most important work and closest relationships with the attention to detail necessary to see familiar things anew, Plunkett offers an original interpretation of Frost's poetry, tracing Frost's distinctive achievement to an engagement with poetic tradition far deeper and more extensive than he ever let on. Frost invited his readers into a conversation like the one he sustained with his literary forebears, intimate and profound, yet he kept his private self at a remove. Here, Plunkett brings the two together--the poet and the poetry--and draws us back into conversation with America's poet.
Visiting Mrs. Nabokov
Visiting Mrs. Nabokov brings together the whirlwind journalistic adventures that, alongside his seismic novels, transformed Martin Amis into England's brightest literary star. It was the golden age of magazine assignments: expense accounts, free-ranging cultural criticism, and eclectic mischief. In these short, hilarious pieces, Amis visits with literary heroes and rivals, follows Elton John's soccer team to China, and reflects on everything from nuclear weapons to televised darts. With his signature caustic wit, he skewers all before him--including himself--as he revisits the dissipations of his youth and some hair-raising near misses: an emergency plane landing, a crush of bodies at a street carnival, and being stood up by Madonna. Whether from the set of RoboCop 2 or the 1988 Republican National Convention, Amis presciently traces the shape of the coming future. As subversive now as they were then, and with a timeless linguistic flair, these dispatches entertain, provoke, and entertain again. Visiting Mrs. Nabokov is perfect for newcomers or longtime fans looking for that spark of insight that only Martin Amis can provide.
I Read Banned Books Page-A-Day(r) Calendar 2027
IMPORTANT BANNED BOOKS IN HISTORY AND TODAY STAND WITH THE BANNED: Dozens of essential literary works have been threatened by censorship in recent years. Stand up for free speech with this new calendar that celebrates the wisdom, lessons, and humor found in these important, entertaining, and impactful books. INSIGHTFUL AND ENTERTAINING: Full of reading lists, author spotlights, history, trivia, quotes, and quizzes for fun literary year. MAKE A DIFFERENCE: A portion of proceeds from this calendar will be donated to the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Foundation to support First Amendment rights. NOW PLASTIC-FREE!: Page-A-Day(R) Calendars are environmentally friendly! Printed on responsibly sourced paper and 100% recyclable, with sturdy cardboard backers.
New Orleans
The neighborhoods of New Orleans have given rise to an extraordinary outpouring of important writing. Over the last century and a half or so, these stories and songs have given the city its singular place in the human imagination. This book leads the reader along five thoroughfares that define these different parts of town - Royal, St. Claude, Esplanade, Basin, and St. Charles - to explore how the writers who have lived around them have responded in closely related ways to the environments they share. On the outskirts of New Orleans today, the city's precarious relation to its watery surroundings and the vexed legacies of race loom especially large. But the city's literature shows us that these themes have been near to hand for New Orleans writers for several generations, whether reflected through questions of masquerade, dreams of escape, the innocence of children, or the power of money or of violence or of memory.
Dublin
The words of its writers are part of the texture of Dublin, an invisible counterpart to the bricks and pavement we see around us. Beyond the ever-present footsteps of James Joyce's characters, Leopold Bloom or Stephen Dedalus, around the city centre, an ordinary-looking residential street overlooking Dublin Bay, for instance, presents the house where Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney lived for many years; a few blocks away is the house where another Nobel Laureate, W. B. Yeats, was born. Just down the coast is the pier linked to yet another, Samuel Beckett, from which we can see the Martello Tower that is the setting for the opening chapter of Ulysses. But these are only a few. Step-by-step, Dublin: A Writer's City unfolds a book-lover's map of this unique city, inviting us to experience what it means to live in a great city of literature. The book is heavily illustrated, and features custom maps.
Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels is one of the landmarks of world literature. Gulliver's adventures with the tiny but spirited Lilliputians, the giant inhabitants of Brobdingnag, the flying island of Laputa, and the rational horses of Houyhnmhnmland have become globally famous for their satirical wit and visionary creativity. Early editions credited Gulliver himself as the author, and many readers believed him to be a real person. Later commentators have variously described the work as proto-science fiction, as inspired children's literature and as a forerunner of the modern novel. The editor's introduction to this celebratory anniversary edition contextualises Gulliver's Travels in Swift's life and work as a whole while exploring its rich and remarkable afterlife. All the original illustrations and maps are included, as are the frontispiece portraits. Generous annotation explains textual details which might now seem obscure, and appendices contain additional documents and images to enhance contemporary understanding and enjoyment.
The Believer
A twelve-time finalist for the National Magazine Awards, every issue of The Believer features commentary, deeply reported journalism, poetry, art, essays, and a difficult but ultimately highly enjoyable games section. Printed on full color, acid-free paper, the magazine has long been a home for the unexpected and the unwieldy corners of culture, a place where readers can encounter emerging talents alongside established, award-winning writers and artists. Lavishly illustrated and perfect-bound, The Believer is printed four times a year, and occasionally accompanied by a delightful bonus item, like an original 7'' record or some other equally amusing object.
The Believer
Named the best magazine of 2022 by Alta.Inside our spring issue: Laura Marris visits the fossils at Royal Ontario Museum, where a scientifically accurate dinosaur skull doubles as a musical instrument; Paul Collins investigates the human cost of America's poorly designed clothing donation bins; Lauren Markham unpacks the case against Lyndon LaRouche--a white supremacist, fraudster, and perennial presidential candidate--who was tried and convicted by her own father; and J. Malcolm Garcia tails a seventy-seven-year-old Arizona priest on his missions to federally patrolled border towns. We have interviews with the very first National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, acclaimed visual artist Christine Sun Kim, writer Sherril Jaffe, and cult astrologer Rob Brezsny; along with a two-page economic analysis of Jane Austen's motley crew, which has been most conveniently adjusted for inflation. In addition, Joy Williams considers Harold Bloom's only novel, Noah Van Sciver illustrates E. B. White's 1940 essay "Freedom," and Halle Butler reveals her tower of books. Plus, regular columnists Nick Hornby and Carrie Brownstein persist with their usual wisdoms as they turn their attention to this year's "literary adult equivalent of the Cabbage Patch Doll" and the terror of pop-in people, respectively; not to mention Peter Orner reflecting on Absalom, Absalom! in a new series featuring art by Argentine cartoonist Liniers. And, should your eyes have any strength left in them yet, there are also book reviews, poetry, games, a dispatch from a Virgin Islands sandals shop, and still more!
The Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation
Inspired by Robert Macfarlane and curated by Jennie Orchard, an anthology of essays about the joys of giving books to children and young people, from some of the world's most beloved writers. Remember the books that shaped your childhood, sparked your imagination, and ignited a lifelong love of reading? In The Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation, some of the world's most beloved authors share their own transformative reading experiences--the books and stories that set them on the path of becoming the readers and writers they are today. Following the success of its first edition, The Gifts of Reading, this heartwarming collection of essays is a testament to the enduring power of books. By exploring the stories that shaped them, our authors provide a powerful guide to fostering a love of reading in the children and young people in your life. With contributions from Tristan Bancks, William Boyd, Shankari Chandran, Horatio Clare, Nicola Davies, Imtiaz Dharker, Ursula Dubosarsky, Maisie Fieschi, Pico Iyer, Wayne Karlin, Colum McCann, JohnMichael McCann, Ann Morgan, Sir Michael Morpurgo, Dina Nayeri, Matt Ottley, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Alice Pung, Diana Reid, Nilanjana Roy, Nikesh Shukla, Nardi Simpson, Madeleine Thien, Thelma Young Lutunatabua, and John Wood, and an afterword by Julia Eccleshare. All royalties generously donated to the two organizations founded by John Wood, Room to Read and U-Go, promoting literacy and education for girls and young women.
Jacob Bronowski: Selected Poems
This anthology brings together the unpublished poetry of Jacob Bronowski (1908-74). One of the last great polymaths, Bronowski was prominent in the fields of philosophy, mathematics, history and literary criticism, and is perhaps best remembered today as the creator of the landmark BBC series, The Ascent of Man. His poetry offers a window into his life and times, covering a number of political and social contemporary issues, from the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, to war and injustice more broadly, to elegies for key cultural figures. The anthology is introduced with a foreword by Stephen Fry and an introduction by editor and compiler Simon Rennie, exploring the rich literary offering of the poetry and its humanistic approach to science and anti-fascism. This collection highlights the significance of Bronowski's work for a new age and from a range of scholarly perspectives: for literary scholars interested in modernist poetry, as well as Jewish literature; for historians of science and scientists interested in Bronowski's work and legacy; and for a more general informed readership familiar with Bronowski as cultural icon.
Experimental Criticism
Experimental Criticism offers a series of close critical engagements with one of the world's most innovative literary thinkers. Franco Moretti, author of such major works as Signs Taken for Wonders, The Way of the World, Modern Epic, Atlas of the European Novel and The Bourgeois, may be best known for his 'distant reading' of vast numbers of literary texts at the Stanford Literary Lab. Francesco de Cristofaro and Stefano Ercolino lead a lively exploration of his work as a springboard for rethinking the fundamentals of literary studies. Topics include literary theory and method, problems of scale and canonisation, the evolution of literary forms, abstract modelling and the digital humanities, comparative versus world literature, Marxism and literary history, and tragedy and the novel. There are essays from Moretti himself on Luk獺cs and the tensions between close and distant reading, plus a 'provisional epilogue' in which he reflects on his intellectual itinerary and the challenges posed by contributors to this volume. 'Why study literature?' he asks. For the pleasure of reducing complex things to their simple elements; to bring them back to earth. This key retrospective amounts to a critical manifesto for an experimental literary materialism, one unafraid to test radical new hypotheses.
Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy
Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy is a modern classic, appreciated by a wide readership, used in liturgy, and translated into more than a dozen languages. It is Leonard Cohen's modern psalter, in which he exposes his dialogue with the divine and the deepest struggles of his soul in its attempts to find peace, side by side with his erotic yearning and his concern for the world at large. Its intricate poetic language combines imagery from the wealth of the Jewish tradition in which the poet was raised, as well as his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation and his absorption in Christian imagery and in old and modern poetry. This book offers a detailed interpretation of Cohen's prose-poems, identifying the sources utilized by him in creating his unique take on the Psalms for our day and age. It is a book that will allow all readers to gain deeper understanding of Cohen's ideas and language in ways that will enrich their own spiritual lives.
The Eternal Moment
Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is one of the great monuments of modern literature-admired, imitated, and often left unfinished on the nightstand. The Eternal Moment: Marcel Proust and the Architecture of Memory offers a readable, idea-rich companion for libraries, classrooms, and serious general readers.Hamon de Quillan approaches Proust as an architect of consciousness. He shows how the novel cycle is built from recurring materials-sensations, habits, social rituals, works of art-and how these materials construct identity across time. From the madeleine episode to the cork-lined room, from Belle ?poque Paris to the disruptions of World War I, the book places Proust's internal drama in its cultural and historical frame without reducing the work to biography.Organised in sixteen thematic chapters, The Eternal Moment examines the formation of Proust's artistic vision; the social "tapestries" of class, salons, and ambition; the mechanics of involuntary memory and sensory recall; love, jealousy, and the illusions of desire; the philosophical currents of Bergson and Schopenhauer; the impact of war on time, perception, and social order; Proust's influence on modernist narrative; and the continuing debates around elitism, style, and accessibility. A final section engages archival materials-letters, photographs, drafts-to show what scholarship can illuminate and where it should remain cautious.Key figures-Swann and Odette, the narrator and Albertine, and the Baron de Charlus-are read as case studies in how society performs itself and how desire distorts perception. Recurrent images (music, flowers, names, rooms) are treated as structural beams that carry meaning from volume to volume, helping readers track continuity across the cycle's celebrated nonlinearity. Ideal for curated literature collections.Clear, interpretive, and generous, de Quillan's study is designed to be used alongside any volume of Proust's cycle. It provides signposts for first-time readers, fresh angles for re-readers, and a vocabulary for discussing Proust's techniques in book clubs or courses on modernism, French literature, narrative theory, and memory studies. A selected bibliography supports further reading.At the centre is a simple promise: Proust's world is vast, but it is navigable. Open the door, follow the sensations, and discover how a single moment can hold an entire life.
The Eternal Moment
Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is one of the great monuments of modern literature-admired, imitated, and often left unfinished on the nightstand. The Eternal Moment: Marcel Proust and the Architecture of Memory offers a readable, idea-rich companion for libraries, classrooms, and serious general readers.Hamon de Quillan approaches Proust as an architect of consciousness. He shows how the novel cycle is built from recurring materials-sensations, habits, social rituals, works of art-and how these materials construct identity across time. From the madeleine episode to the cork-lined room, from Belle ?poque Paris to the disruptions of World War I, the book places Proust's internal drama in its cultural and historical frame without reducing the work to biography.Organised in sixteen thematic chapters, The Eternal Moment examines the formation of Proust's artistic vision; the social "tapestries" of class, salons, and ambition; the mechanics of involuntary memory and sensory recall; love, jealousy, and the illusions of desire; the philosophical currents of Bergson and Schopenhauer; the impact of war on time, perception, and social order; Proust's influence on modernist narrative; and the continuing debates around elitism, style, and accessibility. A final section engages archival materials-letters, photographs, drafts-to show what scholarship can illuminate and where it should remain cautious.Key figures-Swann and Odette, the narrator and Albertine, and the Baron de Charlus-are read as case studies in how society performs itself and how desire distorts perception. Recurrent images (music, flowers, names, rooms) are treated as structural beams that carry meaning from volume to volume, helping readers track continuity across the cycle's celebrated nonlinearity. Ideal for curated literature collections.Clear, interpretive, and generous, de Quillan's study is designed to be used alongside any volume of Proust's cycle. It provides signposts for first-time readers, fresh angles for re-readers, and a vocabulary for discussing Proust's techniques in book clubs or courses on modernism, French literature, narrative theory, and memory studies. A selected bibliography supports further reading.At the centre is a simple promise: Proust's world is vast, but it is navigable. Open the door, follow the sensations, and discover how a single moment can hold an entire life.
Dickens in Brooklyn
Dickens in Brooklyn is a virtuoso collection of unusual, compelling essays in which critically acclaimed and award-winning author Jay Neugeboren explores experiences that have been central to his life: caring long-term for a brother with mental illness; finding and connecting with long-lost family members; a posthumous lunch with Oliver Sacks; his years as single parent to his three children; his decision as a General Motors executive trainee to violate company policy and hang out with "hourlies;" a thwarted kiss at a teenage summer camp where he was a young Jewish man in exile among Jews. Neugeboren is the author most recently of Whatever Happened to Frankie King and twenty-three other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. His essays have been recently published in The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, The American Scholar, Los Angeles Review of Books, Tablet, and Commonweal, and are here collected for the first time.
Autonomy and Heteronomy of Art
Poetry finds its own reason to be and its own dignity within itself. It does this despite any evaluation of poetry in relation to its range, of any moralistic, pedagogical, or didactic purpose, or any moral, philosophical, or scientific content. Unbound by realism, naturalism, sensualism, or sentiment, looking beyond any concrete, defined content, or any dispersive tendency towards narrative or discourse, poetry disregards any evaluation that places its value in something extraneous.Luciano Anceschi (Milan, 1911 - Bologna, 1995) was a literary critic and aesthetic theorist, one of the leading exponents of Antonio Banfi's "critical rationalism." After earning a degree in aesthetics from the University of Milan, he published Autonomy and Heteronomy of Art (1936), a foundational text in his reflection on the theory of poetics. A university professor, he was the director of the journal Il Verri and a key figure in the debate on the neo-avant-garde. His extensive critical work profoundly influenced the study of literature and aesthetics in the twentieth century.Philip Balma is an Associate Professor of Italian Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Connecticut, specializing in modern Italian literature, film, and translation studies. His translations have appeared in Translation Review, Italian Poetry Review, Italica, and The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories. He has translated works by Ennio Flaiano, Eugenio Montale, Edith Bruck, and others.
From Man to Man or Perhaps Only--
"I've lived in so many countries, yet when anything comes to me, it's early always Africa--Africa that sets it." Olive Schreiner's From Man to Man or Perhaps Only--, unfinished at the time of her death and posthumously published in 1926, tells the story of two white women born into the racist, society of mid-nineteenth-century South Africa. One sister remains in the British Cape Colony and finds a way to deal with her husband's infidelities. The other raped at age 15, is hounded out of her insular white South African community, and becomes a kept woman in London's East End. Addressing the ill-effects of a male-dominated imperial capitalism, and positing an equivalence between marriage and prostitution in a society where women's function is primarily sexual, the novel foregrounds the perspective of a young black girl in order to place before its readers the vision of what Schreiner called an "expanded and enlarged humanity". Edited by Dorothy Driver, and based partly on manuscript amendments by Schreiner, reproduces two alternative endings, one apparently told to her husband-editor, and summarised by him, and the other she wrote in a letter to a friend. Driver also provides literary, historical, and linguistic context through an in-depth introduction and expansive notes. This edition includes extracts from Schreiner's letters and journals that cast light on the genesis, composition, and final abandonment of the novel. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around theglobe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of othervaluable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies forfurther study, and much more.
The New Digital Avant-Garde
This work is a study of current migration narratives within the disciplines of Anglophone Postcolonial Literature and Digital Humanities. Global culture, the proliferation and pervasiveness of telecommunications technologies and new media, particularly the Internet, have substantially affected the act of narrating. The replacement of traditional written language as the primary means of conveying narrative and storytelling is a distinctive feature in: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah (2013); Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (2017); Warsan Shire's Home (2011, 2016, 2017, 2022) and the narratives produced within the "Refugee Tales" project. These literary and digital projects might well be considered avant-garde manifestos against racism, in favor of gender equality, female empowerment and a humanitarian plea for the compassionate treatment of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Trans Central Station
'No, I was not trapped in the wrong body. I was trapped in the wrong universe. In order to become who I was, I had to break the world open.' Trans Central Station reflects on a trans life lived before the language to name it. In this luminous autobiographical essay, award-winning science fiction and fantasy author and tarotist Rachel Pollack moves between personal memory, history, science fiction and myth to consider how words can both restrict and liberate. From Schr繹dinger's cat and science-fiction portals to magic, early trans activism and comics, Trans Central Station breaks the world open to 'both completely new and unknowably ancient' possibilities of desire, joy and revelation. Situating trans existence within deep time, Pollack connects modern experience to shamanism and rites of transformation, insisting that trans people have always existed - and have often been understood as sacred figures. In this meditation on freedom - from rigid social structures, from fear and shame, and from history itself - to be trans is proof of ancient and ongoing cosmic power.
Pages Lost and New
Margaret Randall has contributed poetry, essays, translations, and oral histories to the public discourse since the 1960s. Here, she assembles many of the prose works largely lost to time that demonstrate the arc of her thinking, from keynote addresses to informal talks and essays published long ago. More recent work reflects her fierce need to address topics about which she has new things to say. The essays range from photography to translation, social justice to creative expression. This deep collection bridges periods of our history and hers, contributing to the complex weave produced by Randall's generation of thinkers and makers.
Pushing the Wave 2024
Pushing the Wave 2024 brings together a year of essays, reflections and travel writing by L.A. Davenport, enriched with drawings and photo essays from Europe and beyond.This latest volume explores themes of creativity, culture and connection: from finding "flow" in daily life and questioning the allure of awards season, to grappling with limerence, freedom, education and the risks of artificial intelligence. Davenport combines sharp cultural commentary with intimate moments of memory and observation, creating a vibrant mosaic of modern life.Journeys through Paris, Umbria, Antibes, Athens, Cuba, Houston and the northern coast of Ireland deepen the collection, offering fresh perspectives on place, history and belonging.At once thoughtful and lyrical, Pushing the Wave 2024 continues this rich series as a celebration of creativity, curiosity and the search for meaning in a restless world.Perfect for fans of Pico Iyer, Olivia Laing, Alain de Botton and Rebecca Solnit-writers who blend travel, culture and personal reflection with a sharp eye for modern life.
Pushing the Wave 2024
Pushing the Wave 2024 brings together a year of essays, reflections and travel writing by L.A. Davenport, enriched with drawings and photo essays from Europe and beyond.This latest volume explores themes of creativity, culture and connection: from finding "flow" in daily life and questioning the allure of awards season, to grappling with limerence, freedom, education and the risks of artificial intelligence. Davenport combines sharp cultural commentary with intimate moments of memory and observation, creating a vibrant mosaic of modern life.Journeys through Paris, Umbria, Antibes, Athens, Cuba, Houston and the northern coast of Ireland deepen the collection, offering fresh perspectives on place, history and belonging.At once thoughtful and lyrical, Pushing the Wave 2024 continues this rich series as a celebration of creativity, curiosity and the search for meaning in a restless world.Perfect for fans of Pico Iyer, Olivia Laing, Alain de Botton and Rebecca Solnit-writers who blend travel, culture and personal reflection with a sharp eye for modern life.
Literary code switching and beyond
Welcome to a journey into the intricate world of aesthetic multilingualism. This monography delves deep into the realms where diverse linguistic and artistic codes converge to shape the very essence of aesthetic experience. From the authorial motivations to the composition, narrative framework, functional aspects, and multimodal manifestations, it unravels the complexities of code-switching as a powerful aesthetic device. Drawing from a rich tapestry of literary and artistic works, it explores how code-switching transcends linguistic boundaries to create captivating narratives and immersive artistic experiences. The outlined multidimensional approach goes beyond mere linguistic analysis, delving into the intricate interplay of semiotic resources, cultural contexts, and narrative strategies. Through meticulous examination and insightful case studies, it sheds light on the multifaceted nature of aesthetic code-switching, revealing its profound impact on artistic expression and communication. As you embark on this journey, this monography invites you to explore the diverse landscapes of aesthetic multilingualism, where words, sounds, and visuals converge to create art that transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries and captivates the imagination.
Songs of Ogadi
Hear now the voice of Ogadi, child of shadow and light, whose feet have walked the alleys of sorrow and the plains of silence. Ogadi speaks for the unborn, the forsaken, the children whose cries were never carried to the heavens. In twenty-five songs, the lament of the abandoned rises, trembles, and turns into a heartbeat that will not be silenced.From the whispers of those lost before life, to the footsteps of the orphan, the voiceless, the stolen-each verse carries the weight of grief, yet hums with the pulse of endurance. These are songs of sorrow, yes, but also of fire: the fire of survival, the fire of spirit, the fire that will dance through the darkness and summon hope.In the final dance, "Ogadi's Last Dance", despair lifts its veil, and resilience reigns. The child who knew only neglect rises, dancing a rhythm that calls the continent to remember, to witness, to honor, and to nurture. These poems are a drumbeat of ancestry, a chant of the eternal, a summons to hearts willing to answer the call of the future.Songs of Ogadi is a sacred offering: a voice of the unheard, a song of the resilient, a bridge between the spirits of yesterday and the leaders of tomorrow. Those who read, who listen, who feel, are bound by the invisible cords of memory, hope, and Africa itself."His poetry, like his personality, is at once firm and gentle, able to confront hard truths without losing focus and compassion." - Orji Ogbonnaya Orji
