Letters to a Young Poet A New Translation and Commentary

A fresh perspective on a beloved classic by acclaimed translators Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy.

German poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s (1875–1926) Letters to a Young Poet has been treasured by readers for nearly a century. Rilke’s personal reflections on the vocation of writing and the experience of living urge an aspiring poet to look inward, while also offering sage wisdom on further issues including gender, solitude, and romantic love. Barrows and Macy’s translation extends this compilation of timeless advice and wisdom to a fresh generation of readers. With a new introduction and commentary, this edition places the letters in the context of today’s world and the unique challenges we face when seeking authenticity.

RAINER MARIA RILKE (1875-1926) is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. His works include Duino Elegies, The Sonnets to Orpheus, and Letters to a Young Poet.

ANITA BARROWS is a prize-winning poet and a clinical psychologist. She is the author of four books of her own poetry and the recipient of an NEA grant as well as the Quarterly Review of Literature's Contemporary Poetry Award. She has been a professional translator for more than thirty years. She is the translator of Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God. She was featured on Krista Tippet's On Being and writes and has taught at colleges and universities around the country.

JOANNA MACY, PhD, teacher and author, is a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking and deep ecology. As the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects, Macy has created a ground-breaking framework for personal and social change that brings a new way of seeing the world as our larger body.  Her many books include World as Lover, World as Self; Widening Circles, A Memoir; Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy; and Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work That Reconnects. Macy received a BA from Wellesley College in 1950 and a PhD in Religion from Syracuse University in 1978.  She continues to write and teach in Berkeley, California, with two new books in press, including A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Times (ed. Stephanie Kaza). To learn more, visit www.joannamacy.net.