Epic Poetry

SHORTLISTED FOR THE TS ELIOT PRIZE 2025<BR>SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2026<BR>'(c) Codex' SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST SINGLE POEM<BR>LONGLISTED FOR THE GRIFFIN POETRY PRIZE 2026<BR><BR>'Profound, sheer originality... a tantalising jigsaw puzzle of a book' Tristram Fane-Saunders, Telegraph<BR><BR>In The New Carthaginians, time - and with it the world - is out of joint. A hijacked plane lands at Entebbe International Airport in 1976, triggering the crisis that will lead to Idi Amin's Uganda becoming a pariah state and, within a few years, to the young Nick Makoha's flight from the country. A mysterious writer daubs poetic slogans on the walls of late-'70s New York City, signing them SAMO(c). Three characters who are also one - the Poet, a Black Icarus and a resurrected Jean-Michel Basquiat - journey through a time that is both our own and not, watching TV, discussing art and literature and tucking their wings into their jackets on the way to airport security.<BR>Concerned throughout with flight and falling, the sample and the loop, The New Carthaginians is a poetry collection of staggering originality: a work by an author at the height of his powers, in which the familiar Western canons of art, history and philosophy are prised apart and reassembled in a new configuration. Drawing on Basquiat's technique of the 'exploded' collage, our heroes' odyssey gathers the symbols of a new mythos, through which the othering of Black life might be undone and the stage set for some fresh emergence, some transfigured understanding of myth and life. 'Hold that note,' writes the poet. 'In this place you are no longer the chorus ... In any future, remember you are a New Carthaginian.'<BR>A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST SUMMER BOOK OF POETRY 2025<BR>'In this book, Nick Makoha has found an otherworldly, visionary voice and diction that arrest you from the first page and never let you go.' Jason Allen-Paisant, Winner of the TS Eliot Prize<BR>

Beautiful edition with a new introduction to the epic journey of Odysseus on his journey home following the Trojan War.<BR><BR>One of the great epics of Western literature, The Odyssey covers the events after the Trojan War as Odysseus travels home, encountering many strange monsters and creatures along the way. Featuring numerous figures of ancient Greek mythology, Homer's epic poem is one of the world's oldest surviving literary works and preserves various aspects of ancient Greek beliefs and culture for the modern reader. From fearsome giants to a cunning sorceress, Odysseus must confront peril after peril, all the while wondering if the path of his fate ever leads homeward, and if his wife Penelope and son Telemachus remain safe. Featuring a classic, readable translation and a new introduction. Now in a stunning, compact Collector's Edition.

Etwas in dir verlangt nach Veränderung. Vielleicht spürst du es schon lange, vielleicht ist es gerade erst erwacht. Es ist dieses leise Flüstern in stillen Momenten, das dich daran erinnert, dass dein Leben mehr sein könnte. Du stehst an einem Punkt, an dem Weitermachen und Loslassen gleichermaßen schwer wiegen. Der Gedanke, alles beim Alten zu lassen, fühlt sich sicher an, doch gleichzeitig erstickt er dich langsam.Dieses Buch stellt die Fragen, die du dir selbst nicht zu stellen wagst. Es fragt dich, warum du immer noch an Orten bleibst, die dich klein machen. Es konfrontiert dich mit unbequemen Wahrheiten über die Menschen, an denen du festhältst, und die Träume, die du begraben hast. Du wirst erkennen müssen, dass manche Beziehungen dich nur noch aus Gewohnheit begleiten, nicht aus Liebe.Es wird dich herausfordern und erschüttern. Es wird Momente geben, in denen du dieses Buch am liebsten weglegen möchtest, weil die Wahrheit zu nah kommt. Aber es zeigt dir auch, dass du stärker bist, als du glaubst. Dass der Weg zu dem Menschen, der du sein könntest, mit einem einzigen Schritt beginnt. Mit der Entscheidung, nicht länger wegzuschauen, sondern hinzusehen.

'The best translation of The Odyssey yet' Telegraph'Fast, fluent, thrilling, and a hugely impressive' Lee ChildNOW A MAJOR FILM DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER NOLANWith his Odyssey, best-selling author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn has created a momentous new work, hailed by classicists and poets alike - a translation to stand with those of E. V. Rieu and Robert Fagles.Setting aside the streamlining, modernizing approach of many recent translations, Mendelsohn artfully reproduces the epic's formal qualities - meter, enjambment, alliteration, assonance - and in so doing restores to Homer's master work its archaic grandeur. His expansive six-beat line, far closer to the original than that of other recent translations, allows him to capture each of Homer's verses line for line, without sacrificing the amplitude and shadings of the original.The result is the richest, most precise, and most musical Odyssey in English, one that fully conveys its oral poetics while bringing to vivid life the gripping adventure, profound human insight and powerful themes that make Homer's work resonate some twenty-eight centuries after its composition. Supported by an extensive introduction and the fullest notes and commentary currently available, Mendelsohn's Odyssey is poised to become the authoritative English-language version of this magnificent, endlessly enjoyable masterpiece.SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2026

"Pan Tadeusz, or, The Last Foray in Lithuania" by Adam Mickiewicz is a cornerstone of Polish literature and a sweeping epic poem. This meticulously prepared edition invites readers to experience a vibrant story of life among Polish gentlefolk in Lithuania during the years 1811 and 1812. A masterpiece of 19th-century literature, "Pan Tadeusz" captures a pivotal moment in European history through the lens of family, tradition, and national identity. This timeless epic explores themes of love, loss, and the enduring spirit of a people. As a powerful work of historical fiction, "Pan Tadeusz" offers a captivating glimpse into a world on the cusp of change, showcasing the rich culture and customs of the Polish gentry. It remains a vital and engaging work of epic poetry for anyone interested in Polish history and literature.<BR>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A new translation of the final part of Dante's Divine Comedy by a poet and psychoanalyst praised for his previous translation of Dante's Purgatorio.<BR><BR>Paradiso brings The Divine Comedy to a virtuosic and visionary end. This final leg of Dante's journey from Hell into the presence of God is for many the most memorable stretch of the poem, a musical and mystical interweaving of mind and heart and transported sense that is unlike anything else in world literature. This new English rendering of Paradiso by the poet D. M. Black, whose Purgatorio won the 2022 National Translation Award in Poetry, re-creates this masterpiece with fidelity and clarity.<BR><BR>Cleansed of sin after his grueling trek up Mount Purgatory, Dante's pilgrim sets out to explore the celestial spheres under the guidance of his childhood sweetheart and lifelong muse, Beatrice. As he moves from the moon to the planets to the Primum Mobile and beyond, encountering emperors, heroes, saints, members of his family, and various other redeemed sinners, he contemplates optics, angels, free will, mercy, and love. The transcendent actuality of bliss is ever more palpable as the poem unfolds, and yet in the background remains the carnage of history and the deforming bitterness of the human heart, not to be denied—Dante is nothing if not a realist—even in the supreme light of "the Love that moves the sun and all the stars."<BR><BR>Written at a time of great political turmoil in Italy and great personal anxiety in Dante's life, Paradiso wrestles with many questions that have echoes in our own disturbing times. It is a book about the shape of the universe and how to find one's place within it, composed with inventive daring and linguistic ingenuity as Dante stretches language to its very limits, striving to make vivid and tangible the ineffable and sublime.

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books<BR>Lay down all hope, you that go in by me . . .<BR><BR>Through the gates of Hell, past whirling hurricanes, leering devils and rivers of blood, lies the ultimate evil: Satan himself. Masterfully translated by Dorothy L. Sayers, this first instalment of The Divine Comedy tells the captivating tale of Dante and Virgil's arduous journey through the nine circles of the underworld, and remains one of the most influential works in literary history.

In a world where dreams intertwine with reality, Billy J Barnum has an insatiable curiosity and boundless ambition that led him to challenge the limits of his imagination. Billy rose to fame as a master showman which runs in the family given his last name. He has captivated audiences with his extraordinary tales of larger-than-life epic experiences. Each poem weaves a timeless reflection on the power of the struggle for self-discovery, and the enduring human spirit. Billy J Barnum invites readers to embark on an unforgettable adventure filled with wonder, introspection, and the magic of storytelling.

This new Aeneid-the first collaborative translation of the poem in English-is rendered in an unrhymed iambic pentameter that engages modern readers while preserving the epic dignity and pathos of the original. Scott McGill and Susannah Wright's version faithfully conveys the poem's delicate balance between its triumphant celebration of the Roman Empire and its sensitivity to the human costs of antiquity's most powerful and influential society. The result is a poem in English every bit as complex, inviting and affecting as the Latin original. With a rich introduction from Emily Wilson, and the full complement of maps and supporting material that have made Wilson's Homer translations the standard for our time, this gorgeous edition of Rome's founding epic will capture the imaginations and stir the souls of a new generation of readers.

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books<BR><BR>On the fields of Troy, war is raging. At its centre is Achilles: godlike, swift-footed, the greatest champion of the Greeks. But when his pride is wounded and he refuses to fight, the thread of fate begins to spin . . . From frenzied rampages to intimate moments of grief, this selection from Homer's Iliad traces the tale of a warrior whose name echoes through the ages, and whose story remains as powerful as ever.