Being Alive: the sequel to Staying Alive by Neil Astley (English) Paperback Book

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Being Alive is the sequel to Neil Astley's Staying Alive, which became Britain's most popular poetry book because it gave readers hundreds of thoughtful and passionate poems about living in the modern world.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Being Alive is the sequel to Neil Astley's Staying Alive, which became Britain's most popular poetry book because it gave readers hundreds of thoughtful and passionate poems about living in the modern world.Now he has assembled this equally lively companion anthology for all those readers who've wanted more poems that touch the heart, stir the mind and fire the spirit. Being Alive is about being human: about love and loss, fear and longing, hurt and wonder. Staying Alive didn't just reach a broader readership, it introduced thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry, giving them an international gathering of poems of great personal force, poems with emotional power, intellectual edge and playful wit. It also brought many readers back to poetry, people who hadn't read poetry for years because it hadn't held their interest. Being Alive gives readers an even wider selection of vivid, brilliantly diverse contemporary poetry from around the world. Being Alive was followed by a companion anthology, Being Human (2011), and by a fourth volume, Staying Human: new poems for Staying Alive (2020). These anthologies have been welcomed not only by poets but by a wide range of well-known people respected for their work in fields other than poetry - all avid readers of poetry. They want to recommend these books above all other anthologies of contemporary poetry.'I love Staying Alive and keep going back to it. Being Alive is just as vivid, strongly present and equally beautifully organised. But this new book feels even more alive - I think it has a heartbeat, or maybe that's my own thrum humming along with the music of these poets. Sitting alone in a room with these poems is to be assured that you are not alone, you are not crazy (or if you are, you're not the only one who thinks this way!) I run home to this book to argue with it, find solace in it, to locate myself in the world again.' - Meryl Streep'Hopefully, books like this will put poetry back into the mainstream.' - Van Morrison

Notes

This is the sequel to the bestselling poetry title, Staying Alive, which introduced thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry. This second anthology collects more thoughtful and passionate poems that touch the heart, stir the mind and fire the spirit.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

Neil Astley 17 Introduction1 Exploring the WorldElma Mitchell 22 This Poem…Gerald Locklin 22 The Iceberg TheoryBilly Collins 23 Introduction to PoetryEiléan Ní Chuilleanáin 24 The Horses of MeaningPaul Muldoon 24 SymposiumSimon Armitage 25 Not the Furniture GameVincent Woods 26 A Song of LiesPhilip Gross 27 Mappa MundiDonald Hall 28 The PoemGalway Kinnell 29 Saint Francis and the SowNuala Ní Dhomhnaill 29 CelebrationElizabeth Bishop 31 At the FishhousesStewart Conn 33 TremorsTheodore Roethke 34 Night JourneyRandall Jarrell 35 The Orient ExpressC.P. Cavafy 36 IthakaSheenagh Pugh 37 What If This RoadPhilip Larkin 38 Poetry of DeparturesDerek Mahon 39 The Last of the Fire KingsMatthew Sweeney 40 The AppointmentDerek Mahon 41 The Mayo TaoMichael Longley 42 EchoesHayden Carruth 43 No Matter What, After All and That Beautiful Word SoMark Doty 44 MigratoryDon McKay 45 Close-up on a Sharp-shinned HawkLorna Crozier 46 Inventing the HawkGeorge Mackay Brown 48 The HawkRobert Adamson 46 The southern skua2 Taste and SeePhilip Levine 50 The Simple TruthDavid Budbill 51 The First Green of SpringDenise Levertov 51 O Taste and SeeLi-Young Lee 52 From BlossomsPeter Davison 52 PeachesGalway Kinnell 53 Blackberry EatingSylvia Plath 53 BlackberryingTony Harrison 54 A Kumquat for John KeatsVicki Feaver 57 Crab Apple JellyJacob Polley 59 A Jar of HoneyPablo Neruda 59 Sweetness, AlwaysKim Addonizio 61 For DesireHelen Dunmore 62 Wild strawberriesPablo Neruda 63 HorsesTed Hughes 64 The HorsesHenry Shukman 65 Horses at ChristmasKatrina Porteous 66 CalfMary Oliver 66 How Everything Adores Being AliveAlden Nowlan 68 In Praise of the Great Bull WalrusHenri Cole 69 Cleaning the ElephantAlden Nowlan 69 The Bull MooseElizabeth Bishop 70 The FishWendell Berry 72 The Peace of Wild ThingsCzeslaw Milosz 73 GiftJane Hirsheld 73 Not-YetAndrew Greig 74 A Pre-Breakfast RantChase Twichell 75 Hunger for SomethingRuth L. Schwartz 75 Talking to God on the Seventh DayJack Gilbert 76 HungerGwendolyn MacEwen 77 Dark Pines Under WaterErin Mouré 78 ToxicityP.K. Page 79 Planet EarthWislawa Szymborska 80 The BallAnne Michaels 81 The Passionate WorldSarah Lindsay 82 World TruffleArchibald MacLeish 83 You, Andrew MarvellMary Oliver 85 Look and SeeAgha Shahid Ali 85 StationeryMichael Donaghy 86 The PresentImtiaz Dharker 86 BlessingRobert Creeley 87 The RainNaomi Shihab Nye 88 So Much HappinessJane Kenyon 89 HappinessRobert Bly 90 The Third BodyCzeslaw Milosz 90 On PilgrimageMary Oliver 91 The Summer DayCarl Dennis 92 The God Who Loves YouJames K. Baxter 93 The IkonsCzeslaw Milosz 94 Veni CreatorCarl Sandburg 94 Prayers of SteelAntonio Machado 95 'Last night while I was sleeping'Elizabeth Smither 96 Mission ImpossibleR.S. Thomas 96 from CounterpointDennis O'Driscoll 97 Missing GodCharles Causley 100 The Forest of TangleFiona Farrell 101 CredoAidan Rooney-Céspedes 102 Retro CreationKaylin Haught 102 God Says Yes to MeKerry Hardie 103 Sheep Fair DayRuth L. Schwartz 105 Oh God, Fuck Me3 FamilyJacob Polley 108 SmokeMarge Piercy 109 The watchLucille Clifton 110 the lost baby poemJeni Couzyn 110 HeartsongHelen Dunmore 111 Scan at 8 weeksKona Macphee 112 Ultrasound at 13 weeksPaul Muldoon 112 The SonogramPauline Stainer 113 The Ringing ChamberVictoria Redel 113 Ninth MonthDerek Mahon 114 An Unborn ChildLouis MacNeice 115 Prayer Before BirthPablo Neruda 116 BirthsKona Macphee 118 The night before the last day of JanuaryKate Clanchy 118 Driving to the HospitalW.N. Herbert 119 The Harvest in MarchMatthew Hollis 120 And let us sayLauris Edmond 120 TempoFleur Adcock 122 CountingKate Clanchy 123 LoveSylvia Plath 124 Morning SongRichard Murphy 124 Natural SonThom Gunn 125 Baby SongHelen Farish 126 Newly Born TwinsSharon Olds 126 My First WeeksKathleen Ossip 127 NurslingAnne Stevenson 128 The VictoryKate Clanchy 128 StanceJane Hirsheld 129 Red Onion, Cherries, Boiling Potatoes, Milk –Anne Winters 130 from Elizabeth Near and FarFleur Adcock 130 For AndrewGabriela Mistral 131 Let Him Not Grow UpRita Dove 132 DaystarAnna Jackson 133 The peacock of motherhoodConnie Bensley 134 Single ParentMichael Ondaatje 134 BearhugNick Flynn 135 Cartoon Physics, part 1Michael Laskey 136 A Tray of EggsThomas Lynch 137 Skating with Heather GraceTony Hoagland 138 BenevolenceCarlos Drummond de Andrade 139 InfancyAnne Stevenson 139 The MotherSeamus Heaney 140 SunlightPhilip Levine 141 StarlightSeamus Heaney 142 from ClearancesYehuda Amichai 142 My FatherSinéad Morrissey 143 GeneticsSeamus Heaney 143 DiggingBrendan Kennelly 144 I See You Dancing, FatherTheodore Roethke 145 Papa's WaltzSusan Wicks 146 My Father Is ShrinkingLi-Young Lee 147 Little FatherHart Crane 147 My Grandmother's Love LettersAndrew Waterhouse 148 Climbing My GrandfatherThomas Lynch 149 CustodyJulia Copus 150 Second HomeMarie Howe 151 How Many TimesKona Macphee 151 No fairy storySelima Hill 152 HouseAi 152 The Cockfighter's DaughterSylvia Plath 156 DaddySharon Olds 158 Waste SonataTracey Herd 159 The SurvivorsPascale Petit 160 The Strait-JacketsPascale Petit 161 Self-Portrait as a Warao ViolinSusan Glickman 162 But till that morning, ain't no one gonna harm youJohn Steffler 162 Hollis Street Square, HalifaxGjertrud Schnackenberg 163 Returning NorthMaurice Riordan 165 Time OutHelen Dunmore 166 The blessingC. Day Lewis 167 Walking AwayKathleen Jamie 168 Mother-May-ISimon Armitage 169 KidCynthia Fuller 170 GuestsSimon Armitage 170 from Book of MatchesRutger Kopland 171 Johnson Brothers LtdPaul Farley 172 Laws of GravityGael Turnbull 174 TransmutationVona Groarke 174 FamilySharon Thesen 175 AnimalsMiller Williams 175 AnimalsSharon Olds 176 Forty-one, Alone, No GerbilBilly Collins 176 Putting Down the CatElizabeth Smither 177 On the euthanasia of a pet dogGerry McGrath 177 'Noticing a man unable…'Howard Nemerov 178 Walking the Dog4 Love LifeWislawa Szymborska 180 Love at First SightRosemary Tonks 181 Story of a Hotel RoomLavinia Greenlaw 182 TrystDerek Walcott 182 Love After LoveJulia Copus 183 Love, Like WaterYehuda Amichai 184 To My Love, Combing Her HairCathy Song 184 The White PorchZbigniew Herbert 186 Rosy EarMargaret Atwood 187 Variation on the Word SleepGreta Stoddart 188 The BlindfoldZbigniew Herbert 189 Silk of a SoulDerek Walcott 190 The FistDeryn Rees-Jones 191 What It's Like To Be AliveHayden Carruth 191 AliveRobert Hass 192 Misery and SplendorSharon Olds 193 This HourGalway Kinnell 194 After Making Love We Hear FootstepsCzeslaw Milosz 194 LoveJack Gilbert 195 The Great FiresJane Hirsheld 196 Knowing NothingCarol Ann Duffy 196 Warming Her PearlsHelen Farish 197 Look at TheseLiz Lochhead 198 I Wouldn't Thank You for a ValentineCarol Ann Duffy 199 ValentinePablo Neruda 200 Ode to the OnionLinda France 202 If Love Was JazzBilly Collins 203 LitanyPablo Neruda 204 from 100 Love SonnetsPatrick Kavanagh 205 On Raglan RoadBrendan Kennelly 205 Raglan LaneStanley Kunitz 206 Touch MeWilliam Matthews 207 MisgivingsKerry Hardie 208 The Hunter Home from the HillMichael Longley 208 The WaterfallU.A. Fanthorpe 209 AtlasPhilip Larkin 209 An Arundel Tomb5 Men and WomenFrederick Seidel 212 Men and WomenC.K. Williams 215 The DressDenise Levertov 218 The MutesFred Voss 219 The InspectionMarge Piercy 220 In the men's room(s)Gwen Harwood 221 A Simple StoryTony Hoagland 222 The ChangeCarol Ann Duffy 224 Mrs MidasAnne Rouse 226 Spunk TalkingTom Leonard 226 Four of the BeltChris Greenhalgh 227 A Man in the Valley of the WomenRoddy Lumsden 228 Prayer To Be with Mercurial WomenWendy Cope 229 Bloody MenClare Pollard 230 And Another Bloody Thing…Charles Bukowksi 230 sexpotRadmila Lazic 232 I'll Be a Wicked Old WomanDeborah Randall 233 Ballygrand WidowKim Addonizio 234 'What Do Women Want?'Liz Lochhead 234 RapunzstiltskinJohn Agard 236 English Girl Eats Her First MangoDavid Constantine 237 PleasureMinnie Bruce Pratt 238 DoneSelima Hill 238 Please Can I Have a ManBilly Collins 239 Man in SpaceAlice Oswald 240 WeddingMichael Laskey 240 The Tightrope WeddingPhilip Larkin 241 The Whitsun WeddingsMichael Longley 243 The PatternDorothy Molloy 244 Les Grands SeigneursSelima Hill 244 Being a WifeDenise Levertov 245 The Ache of MarriageSylvia Plath 245 The ApplicantDorothy Nimmo 247 Good GiftsJacques Prévert 248 BreakfastDorothy Nimmo 249 Ill-Wishing HimLiz Lochhead 249 My WayCheryl Follon 251 Love RatsDuncan Forbes 252 Recension DayMichael Blackburn 253 Before ThatCatherine Smith 253 The New BrideHelen Ivory 254 Sleeping with the FishesJames Fenton 255 Let's Go Over It All AgainEleanor Brown 256 Sonnet6 Being and LossWallace Stevens 258 The Emperor of Ice-CreamJackie Kay 258 Somebody ElseJames Merrill 259 MirrorMichael Davitt 260 The MirrorChase Twichell 261 Cat and MirrorGael Turnbull 262 TransmutationHenri Cole 262 Original FaceAleksandar Ristovic 263 The essentialMarin Sorescu 263 PondW.B. Yeats 264 The Circus Animals' DesertionJack Gilbert 265 Measuring the TygerCésar Vallejo 266 The black heraldsJohn Berryman 266 from Dream Songs (155)Paul Durcan 267 The Death by Heroin of Sid ViciousJane Kenyon 268 OtherwiseJames Fenton 268 The MistakeC.P. Cavafy 269 Che Fece… Il Gran RiutoAndrew Waterhouse 270 Speaking About My Cracked SumpTracey Herd 270 Ophelia's ConfessionSelima Hill 271 HairbrushPolly Clark 272 Elvis the Performing OctopusSarah Wardle 273 FlightKerry Hardie 274 Autumn CancerJulia Darling 274 ChemotherapyGael Turnbull 275 TransmutationKerry Hardie 275 She Replies to Carmel's LetterKenneth Mackenzie 276 CaesuraDavid Scott 277 HeartEsther Jansma 278 DescentCarole Satyamurti 279 Broken MoonWendy Cope 280 NamesBob Hicok 280 Alzheimer'sAlison Pryde 281 Have We Had Easter Yet?Tony Hoagland 282 LuckyMark Doty 283 BrilliancePearse Hutchinson 285 FlamesNick Drake 286 The Very Rich HoursMark Doty 287 The EmbraceKerry Hardie 288 What's LeftLucille Clifton 289 poem to my uterusLucille Clifton 290 to my last periodHoward Moss 290 The Pruned TreeJames K. Baxter 291 TomcatDavid Constantine 292 The HoistR.S. Thomas 292 LoreGrace Paley 293 HereAnne Stevenson 294 Who's Joking with the Photographer?Fleur Adcock 295 WeatheringLauris Edmond 296 3 a.m.C.K. Williams 297 The ShadeFrederick Seidel 298 Dune Road, SouthamptonMatthew Sweeney 300 The BoxGerard Woodward 300 The Murderer Is a CowJacob Polley 302 Moving HouseImtiaz Dharker 303 This roomNaomi Shihab Nye 304 Kindness7 Daily RoundWilliam Bronk 306 The WayGlyn Maxwell 307 The NerveSimon Armitage 308 Killing Time #2Louis MacNeice 310 Bagpipe MusicDennis O'Driscoll 311 LifeRoo Borson 312 City LightsAugust Kleinzahler 313 Snow in North JerseyWilliam Matthews 314 GriefHelen Dunmore 315 To VirgilMaura Dooley 316 Mind the GapJo Shapcott 316 My Life AsleepDavid Constantine 317 New Year Behind the AsylumAlden Nowlan 318 Great Things Have HappenedThom Gunn 319 Night TaxiKen Smith 321 Message on the machineBrendan Kennelly 321 Clearing a SpaceCiaran Carson 323 ClearanceCiaran Carson 323 Turn AgainEdward Hirsch 324 In Spite of Everything, the StarsJack Gilbert 325 Searching for PittsburghLavinia Greenlaw 325 ZombiesDennis O'Driscoll 326 HomePhilip Levine 327 What Work IsAl Purdy 328 Alive or NotJacques Prévert 329 At the Florist'sAnne Rouse 330 Her RetirementPhilip Larkin 331 ToadsRobert Phillips 332 The Panic BirdJulie O'Callaghan 333 Managing the Common HerdDeborah Garrison 334 Fight SongPeter Didsbury 335 A MaledictionRita Ann Higgins 336 Some PeopleRodney Jones 337 TVVicki Feaver 338 The Way We LivePhilip Levine 339 Every Blessed DayTom French 341 Pity the BastardsRuth Dallas 345 Photographs of Pioneer WomenDonald Hall 346 Names of HorsesGeorge Mackay Brown 347 The Ballad of John Barleycorn, The Ploughman, and the FurrowGrace Nichols 349 Sugar CaneLinda Gregg 350 Fish Tea RiceDerek Mahon 351 Everything Is Going To Be All RightStanley Kunitz 352 The Round8 LivesDerek Mahon 354 LivesBrendan Kennelly 356 The StoryGael Turnbull 357 TransmutationSuzanne Cleary 357 ActingElizabeth Smither 359 The sea questionEsther Morgan 359 The SeaMichael Harlow 360 No Problem, But Not EasyJoanne Limburg 361 Seder Night with My AncestorsAgha Shahid Ali 362 The Dacca GauzesMaya Angelou 363 Still I RiseGwendolyn Brooks 365 Sadie and MaudDouglas Dunn 365 Glasgow Schoolboys, Running BackwardsDenis Glover 366 The MagpiesPaul Muldoon 367 The LoafVona Groarke 368 Imperial MeasureBilly Collins 370 NostalgiaThomas Lux 371 Plague Victims Catapulted over Walls into Besieged CityKen Smith 371 Part of the crowd that dayTom Paulin 372 DesertmartinDerek Mahon 373 EcclesiastesAndrew Waterhouse 374 Now the City Has FallenPeter Reading 375 from Going OnImtiaz Dharker 376 Honour KillingCarol Rumens 377 Geography LessonW.H. Auden 377 Refugee BluesGeorge Szirtes 378 My father carries me across a eldChoman Hardi 379 Escape Journey, 1988Kapka Kassabova 380 Someone else's lifeJane Grifths 381 MigrationCarl Sandburg 382 LimitedMoniza Alvi 382 Arrival, 1946C.P. Cavafy 383 The CityKen Smith 383 Malenki robotSaadi Youssef 384 The MouseCarol Rumens 385 The EmigréeJames Fenton 386 The IdealGwyneth Lewis 386 A Poet's ConfessionZbigniew Herbert 387 TongueMihangel Morgan 387 ConversationW.S. Merwin 388 Losing a LanguageZbigniew Herbert 389 From the Technology of TearsAgha Shahid Ali 390 from The Country Without a Post OfficeYehuda Amichai 391 'The Rustle of History's Wings,' as They Used to Say ThenYehuda Amichai 392 JerusalemJames Fenton 392 JerusalemMahmoud Darwish 395 In This LandMoniza Alvi 395 The SariJames Fenton 396 Wind9 Mad WorldRobert Pinsky 398 ABCGerald Stern 398 The DogEmily Dickinson 399 'I reason, Earth is short…'William Stafford 400 Earth DwellerHans Magnus Enzensberger 400 The End of the OwlsMiroslav Holub 401 The end of the worldEdwin Muir 402 The HorsesVijay Seshadri 403 The DisappearancesW.H. Auden 405 The Shield of AchillesEdwin Brock 407 Five Ways to Kill a ManTadeusz Rózewicz 408 PigtailPrimo Levi 409 ShemàTadeusz Rózewicz 410 The survivor(attr.) Martin Niemöller 411 'First they came for the Jews…'Erich Fried 411 What HappensAdrian Mitchell 412 To Whom It May ConcernW.H. Auden 414 'When Statesmen gravely say…'Hans Magnus Enzensberger 414 Explaining the DeclarationAleksandar Ristovic 415 UntitledBertolt Brecht 415 War Has Been Given a Bad NameMahmoud Darwish 416 He Embraces His MurdererBertolt Brecht 417 from A German War PrimerHeberto Padilla 417 Song of the JugglerErich Fried 418 Conversation with a SurvivorJackie Kay 419 Twelve Bar BessieAdrienne Rich 420 from An Atlas of the Difcult WorldGenevieve Taggard 421 At Last the Women Are MovingCarole Satyamurti 421 OurstoryMarge Piercy 422 The low roadLuis Enrique Mejía Godoy 423 RevengeCzeslaw Milosz 424 DedicationDouglas Dunn 425 RatatouillePaul Durcan 426 In Memory: The Miami Showband – Massacred 31 July 1975James Merrill 427 Casual WearYehuda Amichai 428 The Diameter of the BombNorman MacCaig 428 The Red and the BlackSinéad Morrissey 429 The Wound ManJohn Burnside 430 HistoryC.K. Williams 432 The HearthW.H. Auden 434 Musée des Beaux ArtsWislawa Szymborska 435 Reality DemandsAdam Zagajewski 436 Try to Praise the Mutilated WorldFaiz Ahmed Faiz 437 A Prison EveningAdrienne Rich 438 To the DaysSheenagh Pugh 439 SometimesEva Salzman 439 SpellsHelen Dunmore 440 Glad of these timesJen Hadeld 441 Staple Island Swing10 Ends and BeginningsPhilip Larkin 444 The TreesM.R. Peacocke 444 Late SnowC.P. Cavafy 445 CandlesSaadi Youssef 446 Night in Al-HamraHelen Dunmore 446 Candle poemMark Strand 447 A Piece of the StormBernard O'Donoghue 448 Going Without SayingPatrick Kavanagh 448 Wet Evening in AprilW.S. Merwin 448 For the Anniversary of My DeathAdrienne Rich 449 Final NotationsRaymond Carver 450 GravyJane Kenyon 450 In the Nursing HomeJo Shapcott 451 LovebirdsSharon Olds 451 Beyond HarmRoy Fisher 452 The Entertainment of WarSeamus Heaney 453 Mid-Term BreakRobert Kroetsch 454 Sounding the nameStephen Dobyns 455 When a FriendEdwin Brock 456 And another thing…Michael Longley 457 DetourPaul Durcan 458 Tullynoe: Tête-à-Tête in the Priest's ParlourBernard O'Donoghue 458 Concordiam in PopuloElizabeth Smither 459 A cortège of daughtersMeg Bateman 460 After the FuneralVirginia Hamilton-Adair 460 A Last MarriageAnne Stevenson 461 Musician's WidowLauris Edmond 462 AnniversaryR.S. Thomas 463 A MarriageCarol Muske-Dukes 463 Love SongRuth Stone 464 PoemsAntonio Machado 465 The EyesRuth Stone 465 CurtainsElizabeth Jennings 466 Not at HomeJane Hirsheld 467 A RoomBrendan Kennelly 468 We Are LivingMarie Howe 469 What the Living DoNorman Nicholson 470 Sea to the WestLauris Edmond 471 GirlsCzeslaw Milosz 472 A MistakeTony Hoagland 472 MigrationMichael Hartnett 473 A Prayer for SleepRuth Pitter 474 The TaskJames K. Baxter 474 from Autumn TestamentMary Oliver 476 Some Questions You Might AskM.K. Joseph 476 A Riddle: Of the SoulMichael Hartnett 477 'There will be a talking…'Gary Snyder 478 For the childrenRuth Stone 478 In the Next GalaxyJane Kenyon 479 Let Evening ComeT.S. Eliot 480 from Four Quartets484 Further reading487 Acknowledgements496 Index of writers502 Index of titles and first lines

Review

"'I love Staying Alive and keep going back to it. Being Alive is just as vivid, strongly present and equally beautifully organised. But this new book feels even more alive - I think it has a heartbeat, or maybe that's my own thrum humming along with the music of these poets. Sitting alone in a room with these poems is to be assured that you are not alone, you are not crazy (or if you are, you're not the only one who thinks this way!) I run home to this book to argue with it, find solace in it, to locate myself in the world again' - Meryl Streep; 'These poems remind us of what we have felt yet never fully articulated, what we have dreamt yet never believed entirely possible. Perhaps most importantly, the poems in here tell us there is nothing more powerful than language when its agenda is to reveal rather than to conceal or distort' - Kamila Shamsie"

Long Description

Being Alive is the sequel to Neil Astley's Staying Alive , which became Britain's most popular poetry book because it gave readers hundreds of thoughtful and passionate poems about living in the modern world. Now he has assembled this equally lively companion anthology for all those readers who've wanted more poems that touch the heart, stir the mind and fire the spirit. Being Alive is about being human: about love and loss, fear and longing, hurt and wonder. Staying Alive didn't just reach a broader readership, it introduced thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry, giving them an international gathering of poems of great personal force, poems with emotional power, intellectual edge and playful wit. It also brought many readers back to poetry, people who hadn't read poetry for years because it hadn't held their interest. Being Alive gives readers an even wider selection of vivid, brilliantly diverse contemporary poetry from around the world. Being Alive was followed by a companion anthology, Being Human (2011), and by a fourth volume, Staying Human: new poems for Staying Alive (2020). These anthologies have been welcomed not only by poets but by a wide range of well-known people respected for their work in fields other than poetry -- all avid readers of poetry. They want to recommend these books above all other anthologies of contemporary poetry. 'I love Staying Alive and keep going back to it. Being Alive is just as vivid, strongly present and equally beautifully organised. But this new book feels even more alive -- I think it has a heartbeat, or maybe that's my own thrum humming along with the music of these poets. Sitting alone in a room with these poems is to be assured that you are not alone, you are not crazy (or if you are, you're not the only one who thinks this way!) I run home to this book to argue with it, find solace in it, to locate myself in the world again.' -- Meryl Streep 'Hopefully, books like this will put poetry back into the mainstream.' -- Van Morrison

Review Quote

I love Staying Alive and keep going back to it. Being Alive is just as vivid, strongly present and equally beautifully organised. But this new book feels even more alive - I think it has a heartbeat, or maybe that's my own thrum humming along with the music of these poets. Sitting alone in a room with these poems is to be assured that you are not alone, you are not crazy (or if you are, you're not the only one who thinks this way!) I run home to this book to argue with it, find solace in it, to locate myself in the world again.' - Meryl Streep. 'Hopefully, books like this will put poetry back into the mainstream.' - Van Morrison.

Details ISBN1852246758 Publisher Bloodaxe Books Ltd Year 2004 ISBN-10 1852246758 ISBN-13 9781852246754 Format Paperback Publication Date 2004-10-28 Author Neil Astley Media Book Imprint Bloodaxe Books Ltd Place of Publication Tyne and Wear Country of Publication United Kingdom DEWEY 821.008 Pages 512 Language English Edited by Astley, Neil UK Release Date 2004-10-28 NZ Release Date 2004-10-28 Audience General AU Release Date 2004-10-27 Subtitle the sequel to Staying Alive We've got this

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