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Soul Food

Nourishing Poems for Starved Minds
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( 111 ratings, 11 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Soul Food is an anthology of thoughtful poems drawn from a wide range of traditions and eras, including names such as Rumi, Kabir, Blake, Rilke, Emily Dickinson, and Paul Celan. It features celebrated contemporary poets like Jane Hirshfield, Denise Levertov, Thomas Merton, and Mary Oliver, alongside lesser-known writers. The collection begins with poems on human life and spiritual nourishment, exploring themes like self-knowledge, living in harmony with nature, and understanding God. It offers universal insights into the meaning of life, speaking to readers of all faiths as well as to seekers and non-believers, illustrating how poetry can feed our spiritual hunger.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Soul Food is ideal for readers interested in spiritual and philosophical poetry, those seeking comfort and meaning through verse, and anyone looking to explore diverse poetic traditions addressing the human condition and spirituality.

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"Soul Food" is a feast of thoughtful poems to stir the mind and feed the spirit. Drawn from many traditions, ranging from Rumi, Kabir and Blake, to Rilke, Emily Dickinson and Paul Celan, this wide-ranging selection includes enormously varied work by celebrated contemporary poets, as well as by many lesser-known writers from all periods and places.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Soul Food is a feast of thoughtful poems to stir the mind and feed the spirit. Drawn from many traditions, ranging from Rumi, Kabir and Blake, to Rilke, Emily Dickinson and Paul Celan, this wide-ranging selection includes enormously varied work by celebrated contemporary poets such as Jane Hirshfield, Denise Levertov, Thomas Merton and Mary Oliver, as well as by many lesser-known writers from all periods and places.

The anthology opens with a series of poems on human life and spiritual sustenance, starting with Rumi: 'This being human is a guest house. Each morning a new arrival...'. The poems which follow explore many ways of keeping body and soul together, offering food for thought on knowing yourself, living with nature, who or what is God... All are universal illuminations of the meaning of life, speaking to readers of all faiths as well as to searchers and non-believers.

Soul Food shows how poetry can help feed our hunger for meaning in times of spiritual starvation.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Rachel Campbell-Johnston of The Times praises the poems for illuminating life's path. Anne Ashworth from Universalist: The Journal of the Quaker Universalist Group endorses the collection for reconnecting readers with happiness, kindness, beauty, and joy, recommending it as a source of lasting happiness. Henry Morgan of The Merton Journal finds the book spirit-uplifting, describing the reading experience as sharing a human spiritual journey and noting its popularity among visitors.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781852247669

Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 May 2007

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Bloodaxe Books Ltd

Contributors:

  • Edited by Neil Astley
  • Edited by Pamela Robertson-Pearce

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 174.0mm

Height: 163.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 160

About the Author

Neil Astley is the editor and founder of Bloodaxe Books. He has published over 20 other anthologies, most notably the Staying Alive trilogy and three collaborations with Pamela Robertson-Pearce, Soul Food (2007) and the DVD-anthologies In Person: 30 Poets (2008) and In Person: World Poets (2017), as well as two novels, The End of My Tether (Scribner), which was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award in 2002, and The Sheep Who Changed the World (Flambard, 2005). He has lived in the North East since 1975, latterly in Northumberland's Tarset valley. Pamela Robertson-Pearce is an artist, filmmaker and translator. Her films include IMAGO: Meret Oppenheim (1996), on the artist who made the fur-lined teacup, and Gifted Beauty (2000), about Surrealist women artists including Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. IMAGO: Meret Oppenheim won several awards, including the Swiss Film Board's Prize for Outstanding Quality and the Gold Apple Award at the National Educational Film and Video Festival in America. She has shown her work in solo exhibitions in New York and Provincetown, and in various group shows in the US and Europe. Born in Stockholm, she grew up in Sweden, Spain and England, then lived mostly in America - also working in Switzerland, Norway and Albania - before moving to Northumberland. She co-edited the anthology Soul Food: nourishing poems for starved minds (Bloodaxe Books, 2007) with Neil Astley, and worked with him on the DVD-books In Person: 30 Poets (Bloodaxe Books, 2008) and In Person: World Poets (Bloodaxe Books, 2017), filming poets whose work is included in the two anthologies.

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