Anita Barrows Books

One of the most beloved poets of the twentieth century, Rainer Maria Rilke is widely celebrated for his depth of insight and timeless relevance. He has influenced generations of writers with his classic Letters to a Young Poet, and his reflections on the divine and our place in the world are disarmingly profound. A Year with Rilke provides the first ever reading from Rilke for every day of the year, including selections from his luminous poetry, his piercing prose, and his intimate letters and journals. Rilke is a trusted guide amid the bustle of our daily experience, reflecting on such themes as impermanence, the beauty of creation, the voice of God, and the importance of solitude. With new translations from the editors, whose acclaimed translation of Rilke's The Book of Hours won an ardent readership, this collection reveals the depth and breadth of Rilke's acclaimed work.

With If Not Now Anita Barrows posits that one cannot bear witness from a safe distance, that, to do it properly, one must join in the bloodletting. These poems foreground an oft-overlooked truth about structural violence-poverty, displacement, and police shootings. It is a bomb that detonates in our communities, whose blast radius extends well beyond the body lying lifeless in the street. They remind us that the only way to transcend this violence, to repair that which has been broken, is through connection. -Zach Wyner, Author of What We Never Had Anita Barrows is a poet of the morning and the future. Her poems in If Not Now are songs to life and hope. They offer the reader a subtle embrace from a poet whose own work is inspired, it seems to me, both by her translations-with Joanna Macy-of Rilke, and her day-to-day engagement with the real world as a psychotherapist working with very troubled children in a world exploding with challenges. -Dennis J Bernstein, award-winning poet, author of Five Oceans in a Teaspoon Anita Barrows lets us see ourselves in the hidden sorrows and heroic acts of everyday. These poems reveal that a brave rebellious heart can transform the world. -Joanna Macy, activist and author of Active Hope

Gracie's little sister Jannie is autistic and obsessed with birds-a connection that, as she grows older, allows her to finally begin to interact and engage with the world, even as Gracie increasingly allows the secrets she's keeping to isolate her from her peers and everyone she loves.