Publisher: Nick Hern Books
A powerful solo show about family, anti-Blackness, and what we're willing to sacrifice for love. After Simran loses her friend to honour-based violence, she has to answer some life-changing questions: will she and her boyfriend be able to live safely ever after? Zahra Jassi's play Honour-Bound was premiered at VAULT Festival, London, 2023.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born on May 12th 1828 in London, England. As a youth he was "self-possessed, articulate, passionate and charismatic" but also "ardent, poetic and feckless". Like his siblings, including famed poet Christina Georgina Rossetti, he most wished to be a poet but had a keen eye as a painter, having shown a great interest in Medieval Italian art. Together with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais they developed and founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It’s mission; to reform English art and return to the detail, intense colours, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art. The brotherhood's magazine, The Germ, was first published in 1850 with Rossetti contributing a poem, "The Blessed Damozel", and a story about a fictional Italian artist inspired by a vision of a woman who bids him combine the human and the divine in his art. Rossetti first met his future wife, Elizabeth Siddal, a model, in 1849 who was later sitting for him and involved in an intense relationship. By 1852 they withdrew from society; totally absorbed in each other. The lovers nicknamed each other; "Guggums" and "Dove". In 1861, Rossetti, together with William Morris, became a founding partner in the decorative arts firm, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. Rossetti contributed designs for stained glass and other decorative objects. Meanwhile his marriage to Lizzie was troubled. The terrible hurt of Rossetti’s affairs with other women had caused her stress leading to depression and other illnesses. She now began to take, and become addicted to, laudanum. In 1861, Lizzie became pregnant but the resultant birth was a stillborn daughter. Lizzie’s post-partum depression was followed by an overdose of laudanum the following year. Rossetti was devastated and, at her funeral in Highgate Cemetery, he buried the bulk of his unpublished poems with her body. Poetry and painting are closely entwined in Rossetti's work. He frequently wrote sonnets to accompany his pictures, while also creating art to illustrate poems such as "Goblin Market" by his sister. His personal life was closely woven into his work, especially his relationships with his models and muses. William Morris’s wife, Jane, regularly sat for him during the next few years, and it was said she "consumed and obsessed him in paint, poetry, and life". During these years, Rossetti was prevailed upon by friends to exhume his poems from his wife's grave which he eventually did, collating and publishing them in 1870. Their eroticism and sensuality caused much offence. One, "Nuptial Sleep", described a couple falling asleep after sex. It was part of the sonnet sequence The House of Life, a complex series tracing the physical and spiritual development of an intimate relationship. Rossetti described the sonnet form as a "moment's monument" and these were his crowning literary achievement. Toward the end of his life, he sank into a morbid state, shadowed by addiction to chloral hydrate and increasing mental instability. He spent his last years as a recluse at Cheyne Walk and died on Easter Sunday, April 9th, 1882. This volume comes to you from Portable Poetry, a specialized imprint from Deadtree Publishing. Our range is large and growing and covers single poets, themes, and many compilations.Show book
Just who is the Secret Agent [Delta] of a certain embassy? Just who is Mr Verloc? The proprietor of a certain shop on Brett Street? The Vice-President of a certain revolutionary committee? Forced into a corner by his superiors, he acts in desperation and disaster awaits. A tale of anarchy and realism, by Joseph Conrad, first published in 1905, it is considered one of his great city novels, as well as a great novellestic study of terrorism and it's proponents. Narrated by Michael Ward.Show book
What happens when the deepest questions of the soul become a story? The Complete Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky brings together the full novelistic legacy of one of the greatest writers in world literature. Renowned for his unmatched psychological insight, Dostoevsky explored guilt and redemption, faith and doubt, freedom and responsibility—long before modern psychology gave them names. This comprehensive collection includes his major novels, portraying unforgettable characters driven by inner conflict and moral struggle. From crime and punishment to faith, suffering, and salvation, Dostoevsky's stories confront the darkest corners of the human mind while searching for meaning and compassion. Intense, philosophical, and emotionally powerful, these novels shaped modern fiction and continue to challenge readers with questions that have no easy answers. Inside this eBook, you'll explore: All major novels by Fyodor Dostoevsky in one collection Profound psychological and moral exploration Themes of crime, conscience, faith, freedom, and redemption A cornerstone of Russian and world literature Studied worldwide and endlessly influential, Dostoevsky's novels remain essential reading for anyone seeking serious, transformative literature. Enter the minds that changed literature forever. Buy now and experience the complete novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky.Show book
A collection of classic literature that feature erotic dreams including 'The Evee of St Agnes' by Keats and 'The Dream' by Donne.Show book
Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. Matthew Arnold has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues.He is sometimes called the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning.This week's poem is the first part of Arnold's Lyric Poem 'Switzerland'. - Summary by WikipediaShow book
This is a collection of poems read by LibriVox volunteers for the month of May 2009Show book
