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Liberation: New Works on Freedom from Internationally Renowned Poets Kindle Edition

by Mark Ludwig (Author), Ha Jin (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
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An exploration of freedom by some of the world’s most celebrated poets, published for the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camps
 
The year 2015 marks the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the conclusion of the Second World War. But around the world, oppressed and imprisoned people are still longing for freedom and asking, “What does it mean to be free?” This collection of poems explores that question.

In honor of this anniversary, some of the world’s top contemporary voices—including Rita Dove, Robert Pinsky, Jay Parini, Yusef Komunyakaa, Agi Mishol, Tsering Woeser, Han Dong, Ernesto Santana, and Richard Blanco—have written poems on the theme of liberation as it inspires them personally and creatively. Nearly all of their poems are published for the first time in this volume.

The result is an artistic representation of the universal yearning for freedom from twenty-five countries—and countless stories of oppression, imprisonment, and liberation. Here are Afghan women writing in secret, Tibetan and Cuban dissidents, memories and hopes inspired by topics from Fergusson to the Middle East, from illness to spirituality to joy in nature. This collection demonstrates the power of art to heal and to bring attention to freedom as a universal human right.

Lyrical, uplifting, contemplative, sometimes angry, sometimes hopeful, always masterful, these are enduring poems to enrich and inspire.
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  1. Print length
    177 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Beacon Press
  5. Publication date
    October 6, 2015
  6. File size
    546 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark Ludwig is the founding executive director of the Terezín Music Foundation (TMF), dedicated to preserving and performing the musical legacy of composers imprisoned in the Terezín concentration camp and all artists lost in the Holocaust. By commissioning new works of composers and poets, TMF strives to fill the silence these great artists left and to use their legacy as a vehicle promoting dialogue and freedom of expression. Mark lives in Boston, where he is also a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00TNBOFL2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beacon Press (October 6, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 6, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 546 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 177 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Nick Makoha

    Nick Makoha

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    Nicholas Makoha is a dynamic writer born in Uganda and has lived in Kenya, Saudi Arabia and currently resides in London. He is one of ten contemporary poets in the UK to have been selected for Spread the Word’s Complete Works development programme. During the programme he has been mentored by eminent poet George Szirtes, both writers in exile.

    Nick Makoha was shortlisted for the 2017 Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection for he’s debut Kingdom of Gravity. Bernardine Evaristo and Jackie Kay recommended it in The Guardian’s Best books of 2017. He is a Cave Canem Graduate Fellow, Malika’s Kitchen Fellow and Complete Works Alumni. He won the 2015 Brunel International African Poetry prize and is the 2016 winner of the Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize for his pamphlet Resurrection Man. His poems appeared in The New York Times, Poetry Review, Rialto, Poetry London, Triquarterly Review, Boston Review, Callaloo, and Wasafiri. As Creative Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Goldsmiths, University of London he started the filming of Black Metic Poet interviews as part of the Metic experiences of Black British Writers.

    Nick Makoha’s first full-length collection, Kingdom of Gravity (Peepal Tree £8.99), was the 2017 debut which most excited me. Focused on Uganda during the Idi Amin dictatorship, his poetry is charged with ethical sensibility. The lines protest as they sing “the song disturbed by helicopter blades…” but they don’t simplify things: they explore, and complicate. Personal witness and artistry are one. - Carol Rumens - The Guardian

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  2. Mark Ludwig

    Mark Ludwig

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Mark Ludwig is the founding executive director of the Terezín Music Foundation (TMF), dedicated to preserving and performing the musical legacy of composers imprisoned in the Terezín concentration camp and all artists lost in the Holocaust. By commissioning new works of composers and poets, TMF strives to fill the silence these great artists left and to use their legacy as a vehicle promoting dialogue and freedom of expression. Mark lives in Boston, where he is also a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is the editor of Liberation: New Works on Freedom from Internationally Renowned Poets (October 2015).

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
5 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

old woman
5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent and eye-opening
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2015
The great poets of today write about FREEDOM -- the great topic of our time (or any). This rich and diverse anthology demonstrates (in gorgeous poems) that everyone, everywhere longs for freedom. Though the project was inspired by the 70th anniversary this year of the liberation of the Nazi camps, these poems are about many topics: illness, immigration, war, memory, racism, nature, children, music . . . . There are Cherokee, Palestinian, Cuban, Tibetan, Afghani, and Australian Aborigine voices, and their words inspire compassion for people everywhere. Copy on the book's website mentions that the poets are from 25 countries and their poems are translated from more than 20 languages and dialects, which is truly impressive.

These poems will make you laugh, cry, smile, and think, and they'll teach you something new about people, politics, and life in distant places. Some of the poems are pretty hard-hitting (Rita Dove's poem about Trayvon Martin is one example, and Robert Pinsky's poem about Guantanamo is another). Others are lyrical and beautiful (Fanny Howe's meditation on clouds and Justin Quinn's walk through fields). If you don't read poetry as a habit, this is a wonderful place to start. And if you engage with poetry regularly, you'll be excited to have these new poems by so many very famous poets around the world. I'll be giving it as a gift to many friends and family this year.
2 people found this helpful
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Avid Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Justice
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2015
This collection of 148 poems, each one related to freedom or liberation, represents the work of 62 poets from 24 countries. The table of contents lists the poet’s nation of origin. There is a variety of traditional stanza formats, along with free verse and even one list. Each poem relates to a specific phase of the struggle against bondage.
• “So they might know what liberation is”
• “We are the drums of our ancestor’s hearts”
• “No country untouched”
• “A ghost of gunmetal drones overhead”
• “Death sails into the gilder ballroom in purple satin”
• “Speak when broken”
• “Think of the trapped wren”
• “Towards a promised freedom”
If you enjoy light- hearted poetry, like Dr. Seuss or Robert Service, this book is not for you.

This collection would have been rated a five, except it is missing biographical or bibliographical information.
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Sunie Levin
5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical Journey of Hope
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2015
Liberation New Works on Freedom from internationally renowned Poets

A Magical Journey of Hope

From Sunie Levin

Come along with me on a magical journey of hope as you read this powerful anthology of many voices in their plea for freedom and liberation. Listen carefully as they need to be heard. Mark Ludwig has done a masterful job of challenging 60 poets in 27 countries to express what it means to be free.

From the holocaust to the streets of recent senseless murders around the world hear their cry and feel their pain. What a fitting tribute to the memory of the poets and musicians of Terezin concentration camp. Richard Berengarten’s poem ‘Child Survivor’s Testimony’ chills the soul with the lines I’m alive because in the middle of the shooting my father said, Go. I walked away slowly. Nobody noticed. That’s why I’m alive.

In our present world where there is so much violence and anger these poems help remind us that there is hope for freedom and liberation. Mary Kimani from Kenya writes ‘Free, Free, Free’ Pain can’t touch us no more, not like it once did, We are free, we are free, we are free. Read this collection and share it with your children.
One person found this helpful
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Erica Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Resource for Teachers
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2016
This is a moving, wide-ranging collection from some of today's best poets. Many of the contributions such as Kwame Dawes's "In Waiting" and Rita Dove's "Trayvon-Redux" are daring; they tackle issues of history and race with surprising candor. My favorite poem from Liberation is perhaps Ting Chang's "When Every Story Begins with Wolf" with the line "This is what the beast is saying time and time again. You are meat." I would recommend this collection to anyone, but particularly to teachers putting together their spring syllabi.
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