From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and “one of the greatest poets of our age … the Thoreau of our era” (Edward Hirsch) comes a thrilling story, in verse, of nineteenth-century Hawaii. Here is the story of an attempt by the government to seize and constrain possible victims of leprosy and the determination of one small family not to be taken. A tale of the perils and glories of their flight into the wilds of the island of Kauai, pursued by a gunboat full of soldiers. A brilliant capturing—inspired by the poet's respect for the people of these islands—of their life, their history, the gods and goddesses of their mythic past. A somber revelation of the wrecking of their culture through the exploitative incursions of Europeans and Americans. An epic narrative that enthralls with the grandeur of its language and of its vision.

Elegant, brutal, and profound—this magnificent debut captures the grit and glory of modern Hawai'i with breathtaking force and accuracy. In a stunning collection that announces the arrival of an incredible talent, Kristiana Kahakauwila travels the islands of Hawai'i, making the fabled place her own. Exploring the deep tensions between local and tourist, tradition and expectation, façade and authentic self, This Is Paradise provides an unforgettable portrait of life as it’s truly being lived on Maui, Oahu, Kaua'i and the Big Island. In the gut-punch of “Wanle,” a beautiful and tough young woman wants nothing more than to follow in her father’s footsteps as a legendary cockfighter. With striking versatility, the title story employs a chorus of voices—the women of Waikiki—to tell the tale of a young tourist drawn to the darker side of the city’s nightlife. “The Old Paniolo Way” limns the difficult nature of legacy and inheritance when a patriarch tries to settle the affairs of his farm before his death. Exquisitely written and bursting with sharply observed detail, Kahakauwila’s stories remind us of the powerful desire to belong, to put down roots, and to have a place to call home.

Literary Nonfiction. Poetry History & Criticism. W. S. Merwin is a defining writer for our age, a poet who, over the course of sixty years and more than forty books, has created a body of work of enormous range, ambition, and complexity. He has served as the United States Poet Laureate and is the recipient of almost every major American award for poetry, including the 2005 National Book Award and two Pulitzer Prizes, first in 1971 and again in 2009. In this volume, for the first time, fifteen poets and critics gather to discuss the last quarter century of his work, beginning with The Rain in the Trees, a collection of poems that marks a turning point in Merwin's career. At times personal and at times scholarly, these essays place the poet's recent work in the context of a lifetime of writing, and help us to understand how this seminal literary figure fits into the ongoing conversation of American poetry. Includes a preface by editors Jonathan Weinert and Kevin Prufer, a transcript of an interview with W. S. Merwin, and essays by David Caplan, Steven Cramer, Debra Kang Dean, Forrest Gander, Mark Halliday, Jerry Harp, H. L. Hix, Mark Irwin, Sarah Kennedy, Eric Pankey, Lisa Russ Spaar, Michael Theune, Jeanie Thompson and Matthew Zapruder.

Fiftieth Anniversary edition of a revolutionary book that still stuns with its prophetic, political, and stylistic force

In the midst of the hurt and the mundane, the questions and the not yets, you can forget just how far you have come. This illustrated collection of poetry and essays invites you to reclaim moments of brokenness, division, and pain and re-envision them as experiences of reconciliation, unity, and hope. Popular Instagram poet and bestselling author Morgan Harper Nichols weaves together personal reflections through her signature poems, reflecting on the moments that shaped her. She invites you to: Awaken your heart and recognize how your own story has made you who you are today Enter into a deeper understanding of pressing on and pressing in, of transformation and surrender Discover meaning in the losses and embrace anticipation for the splendor ahead Become who you are in the moment you hold right now How Far You Have Come is an excellent gift for college and high school graduations, celebrations and anniversaries, life transitions, and birthdays or simply a gift for yourself. Follow Morgan on Instagram @morganharpernicols (along with her millions of followers), and look for more beautiful, thought-provoking poetry in her other collections: All Along You Were Blooming You Are Only Just Beginning

A stunning account of racism, mob violence, and cultural responsibility as rendered by the poet Martha Collins the victim hanged, though not on a tree, this was not the country, they used a steel arch with electric lights, and later a lamppost, this was a modern event, the trees were not involved. —from "Blue Front" Martha Collins's father, as a five-year-old, sold fruit outside the Blue Front Restaurant in Cairo, Illinois, in 1909. What he witnessed there, with 10,000 participants, is shocking. In Blue Front, Collins describes the brutal lynching of a black man and, as an afterthought, a white man, both of them left to the mercilessness of the spectators. The poems patch together an arresting array of evidence—newspaper articles, census data, legal history, postcards, photographs, and Collins's speculations about her father's own experience. The resulting work, part lyric and part narrative, is a bold investigation into hate, mob mentality, culpability, and what it means to be white in a country still haunted by its violently racist history.

Late in life our most revered poet delivers a verdant collection that rivals the best from his storied career.

Reflections on the game by the Sports lllustrated writer and national-bestselling author of The Swinger. Michael Bamberger has lived the game of golf as few others have—from his experience as one of the first white, college-educated caddies in 1985, to hanging out with Arnold Palmer at the Masters. This Golfing Life brings together Bamberger’s acclaimed, intimate profiles of stars (Tiger, Jack, and Annika to name a few), as well as the behind-the-scenes people who make the game what it is. In his last round of golf before an amputation, Bamberger’s high school golf coach, John Sifaneck, makes his first hole in one; John Stark gets Bamberger to relearn the game as a Scotsman; Bob Rubin, a Wall Street master-of-the-universe, builds his own golf course—one so difficult he can’t break one hundred on it; Bruce Edwards continues to caddie for Tom Watson while dying of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Bamberger interweaves these stories with his own life in a way that will remind golfers why they love the game.