ISBN: 1608190331/ ISBN-13: 9781608190331

The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing

(Hardcover)

by Kevin Young

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 03/2010, 336 pages, English

An incomparable resource for those touched by grief--a groundbreaking volume of elegies by the most important names in modern poetry.

We all share life's passages, from love to grief, and during them often turn to poetry to express the inexpressible. But while anthologies of love poetry abound, "The Art of Losing "is the very first anthology of its kind, delivering 150 devastatingly beautiful contemporary elegies that embrace the pain, heartbreak, and healing stages of mourning.

Selected and introduced by National Book Award finalist Kevin Young, the poems are artfully arranged to correspond with the grieving process: starting with Reckoning, moving through Remembrance and Rituals, then ending with Recovery and, finally, Redemption. And with contributions from men, women, and a full range of races and faiths, the breadth of human experience is captured. Whether read aloud at a funeral service or privately for comfort, these poems prove a worthy companion to the necessary, and often messy, process of grieving.

A singularly thoughtful gift for those coping with grief, as well as a vital resource for the loved ones, clergy, and hospice workers who guide us through the process of letting go, "The Art of Losing "will be an essential source of comfort and beauty.

With poems by Elizabeth Alexander, Simon Armitage, John Ashbery, W. H . Auden, John Berryman, Lucille Clifton, Billy Collins, Emily Dickinson, Rita Dove, Louise Gluck, Ted Hughes, Jane Kenyon, Galway Kinnell, Kenneth Koch, Philip Larkin, Li-Young Lee, Philip Levine, Marianne Moore, Les Murray, Frank O'Hara, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Robert Pinsky, Adrienne Rich, Theodore Roethke, Anne Sexton, Dylan Thomas, Natasha Trethewey, Derek Walcott, James Wright, and others.