The creator of the popular Quarter Life Poetry Tumblr and Instagram tackles real-life truths of work, money, sex, and many other 20-something challenges in this laugh-out-loud collection of poetry. Samantha Jayne knows that life post-college isn't as glamorous as all undergrads think it's going to be... because she's currently living it. At 25, Samantha began creating doodles and funny poems about her #struggle to share with friends on Instagram. To her surprise, these poems were picked up by 20-somethings all around the world who agreed, "This is literally us." At a time when it seems like everyone else is getting married, snagging a dream job, and paying off their student loans, Samantha's poetry captures the voice of young people everywhere who know that your 20s can sometimes be the exact opposite of "the best years of your life."
From the author of How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America * Winner, 2017 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award * Finalist, 2017 NAACP Image Awards * "One Book One New Orleans" 2017 Book Selection * Published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, New Republic, Boston Review, The Guardian, The Rumpus, and The Academy of American Poets "So many of these poems just blow me away. Incredibly beautiful and powerful." -- Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow "Counting Descent is a tightly-woven collection of poems whose pages act like an invitation. The invitation is intimate and generous and also a challenge; are you up to asking what is blackness? What is black joy? How is black life loved and lived? To whom do we look to for answers? This invitation is not to a narrow street, or a shallow lake, but to a vast exploration of life. And you’re invited. -- Elizabeth Acevedo, Author of Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths "These poems shimmer with revelatory intensity, approaching us from all sides to immerse us in the America that America so often forgets." -- Gregory Pardlo "Counting Descent is more than brilliant. More than lyrical. More than bluesy. More than courageous. It is terrifying in its ability to at once not hide and show readers why it wants to hide so badly. These poems mend, meld and imagine with weighted details, pauses, idiosyncrasies and word patterns I've never seen before." -- Kiese Laymon, Author of Long Division Clint Smith's debut poetry collection, Counting Descent, is a coming of age story that seeks to complicate our conception of lineage and tradition. "Do you know what it means for your existence to be defined by someone else’s intentions?" Smith explores the cognitive dissonance that results from belonging to a community that unapologetically celebrates black humanity while living in a world that often renders blackness a caricature of fear. His poems move fluidly across personal and political histories, all the while reflecting on the social construction of our lived experiences. Smith brings the reader on a powerful journey forcing us to reflect on all that we learn growing up, and all that we seek to unlearn moving forward.
An empowering and insightful self-help book for Gen Z young adults to find passion, purpose, and success in their careers How do you actually find meaning in the workplace? How do you find work that makes your heart sing, creates impact, and pays your rent? After realizing that his well-paying, prestigious job was actually making him miserable, Adam “Smiley” Poswolsky started asking these big questions. The Quarter-Life Breakthrough provides fresh, honest, counterintuitive, and inspiring career advice for anyone stuck in a quarter-life crisis (or third-life crisis), trying to figure out what to do with your life. Smiley shares the stories of many twenty- and thirty-somethings who are discovering how to work with purpose (and still pay the bills). Brimming with practical exercises and advice, this book is essential reading for millennial career changers and anyone passionate about getting unstuck, pursuing work that matters, and changing the world.
"Connie Wanek . . . is superb, mature [and] a master of mood and language."--St. Paul Pioneer Press "No poet I know, with the exception of Jane Kenyon, is as able to discover the magic and depth in ordinary, day-to-day life and to artfully render that vision for the reader."--Louis Jenkins Connie Wanek's third book of poems, On Speaking Terms, is amusing, tender, and surprising. Herself a librarian in Duluth, Minnesota, Wanek's poems emerge from everyday objects--Scrabble, garlic, lipstick, hawkweed--and the landscapes, waterscapes, and severe winters of the upper Midwest. Readers will shove off in canoes, buckle on skis, set fishing nets in Lake Superior, and spend time in the real world of the imagination. Lit by startling metaphors, Wanek's work has been justly compared to Wislawa Szymborska's for its wry wit and spare "Eastern European" sensibility. . . . Afterwards it was Eve who made the first snowman, her second sin, and she laughed as she rolled up the wet white carpet and lifted the wee head into place. "And God causeth the sun to melt her labors, for He was a jealous God." Connie Wanek is the author of two books of poems. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota, where she is a public librarian and renovates old houses with her husband. Her poems have appeared in many journals, including The Atlantic Monthly and Poetry. In 2006 she was named a Witter Bynner Fellow in Poetry from the Library of Congress.
Former United States poet laureate Donald Hall reflects on his life, discussing his childhood in Connecticut, the works that influenced him, his education, his success and failures as a writer and father, his friendships, and other related topics.
Poetry has always been a central element of Christian spirituality and is increasingly used in worship, in pastoral services and guided meditation. Here, Cambridge poet, priest and singer-songwriter Malcolm Guite transforms 70 lectionary readings into inspiring poems for use in regular worship, seasonal services, meditative reading or on retreat.
(w)holehearted is a play on words to emphasize the idea of appearing whole and intact as a human being, but with fissures, scars, and brokenness peeking through from behind the tough exterior. it is the facade that many of us peruse our lives carrying, often neglecting our pain, our mental health, and most importantly, the way we are more prone to hurting others when we lack this self-awareness. (w)holehearted seeks to encompass as many stories as possible, touching on several topics, namely, spirituality, feminism, colorism, domestic violence, intersectionality, mental health and more. it aims to depict that anyone with the darkest past and pitfalls can still save themselves from drowning in the difficulties that not only plague our world, but also plague our hearts.
A literary cookbook that celebrates food and poetry, two of life's essential ingredients. In the same way that salt seasons ingredients to bring out their flavors, poetry seasons our lives; when celebrated together, our everyday moments and meals are richer and more meaningful. The twenty-five inspiring poems in this book—from such poets as Marge Piercy, Louise Glück, Mark Strand, Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, Jane Hirshfield—are accompanied by seventy-five recipes that bring the richness of words to life in our kitchen, on our plate, and through our palate. Eat This Poem opens us up to fresh ways of accessing poetry and lends new meaning to the foods we cook.
Are you questioning who you are and what you're doing with your life? Do you feel lost and find yourself searching to fill an unexplainable void? In a world of social media personas, unattainable expectations, and internal turmoil-Questions, Christ and the Quarter-Life Crisis is a must read for those seeking inner peace, identity, and personal growth.In a testimony of flaws and faith, Morgan Richard Olivier gives readers the tools to navigate through their toughest seasons as she expresses her journey of self-love, personal growth, and the pursuit of purpose through revelations, reflections, and lessons learned.After drowning in the depths of depression, emptiness, and foolishness, Morgan takes the life-changing plunge into self-assessment, mental health, and spiritual awakening where she realizes that there is a greater message in her mess and purpose for her pain. With words of empathy and encouragement, Morgan empowers and educates readers to crush the image and pursuit of perfection by captivating the raw beauty of sincere progress.It's learning to grow through what we go through and accepting each step of our journey that brings wisdom, strength, and a greater meaning of life.
