Author Archives: Frostie

WHY I TRADED IN A HIGH-FLYING CAREER IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY TO PURSUE MY ACTING DREAMS, AND HOW I DID IT

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By Peter Meyer, author of The Boy from the Wild

Most of us dream about quitting the 9-5 (or is that the 8-7) rat race, but few ever do.  The author Peter Meyer is proof that following a dream can be more than just a daydream. He hung up his suit and left a highly-paid job in the hospitality industry to embark on a career as an actor – and was soon rubbing shoulders with Brad Pitt.

I grew up in the hospitality industry, quite literally. I was born and raised on a game reserve in South Africa that my father created. It had a safari park, a five-star hotel and a conference centre. It was once known as Safari World and its pioneering fusion of Disney-style theme park and nature reserve  made it akin to a real-world Jurassic Park

When I was older, I graduated from Les Roches Hospitality University in Switzerland and went on to work all around the world in places including the UK, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.  I worked in different director roles in sales, marketing and business development for groups like Hilton, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, JA Resorts & Hotels and then YTL Hotels.  At one point I was even one of Hilton’s youngest directors at 26 years old.  I had it all going for me – the experience, the qualifications, the connections, the lifestyle and so much more…. but then it all changed.

In 2014, I dropped everything to spend time with my father after hearing he had a very rare form of terminal cancer.  My father was my life and an incredibly special person, so I was going to be by his side.  After I lost him I lost a part of myself and realised that you are vulnerable – and that life is governed by time that we take for granted.  I tried to get back into hotels and got a huge position in Kuala Lumpur but was ultimately in a very bad mental state and lost my zest and desire for the industry.  I was missing my dad plain and simple.

By chance a short while later a family friend suggested that I try acting and modelling for fun, and at least until I’d planned my next move.  So, a short while later, I signed onto a website that was a portal for jobs in that industry.  Within the space of a few days I was contacted by a production company, which asked me to do a TV commercial for Ford.

I did the shoot and was told I was a “natural” and was advised to do more! Two weeks later I got a call from a director making an independent British film and I got a tiny part as a news anchor with some lines.  It was then that I realised how much I loved acting and it woke me up out of semi-depressed state for my father.  I decided to see where it went.

Suddenly I was getting acting and modelling roles and even got my first lead in a short film within three months of starting.  My biggest came when I got a call to audition for Allied with Brad Pitt and got the smallest part to sing.  Sadly, the role was cut but I was still an extra and got picked to be near Brad Pitt and enjoyed getting to know him. I then got chosen to work as an extra next to Liam Neeson this time on The Commuter.  He partly inspired my book “The Boy from the Wild”.  In less than 18 months all this had happened.  I was also doing a lot of plus size modelling and was Tesco’s first plus size male model wearing Jacamo.  But I have also modelled internationally with groups such as El Corte Ingles wearing Hugo Boss, GANT, Ralph Lauren and more.  Who knows what’s next?

I’ve gone from surviving animal attacks and snake bites on a safari park to surviving the concrete jungles of Hollywood.  How, people ask?  Well, get headshots, get a showreel, get an agent, brand yourself to get your followers and have passion.  If you are determined and do what you love then you will achieve.  Sometimes you have to risk it to get the biscuit. A dream is yours and yours to fail, so don’t let it.

The Boy from the Wild by Peter Meyer is out now, priced £9.99 in paperback and £3.99 as an eBook. It is available for sale on Amazon UK. Visit  www.petermeyer.com

Ergobaby Aura Baby Wrap Review

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Ergo baby have launched new Aura Baby Wrap, an ergonomically designed lightweight wrap which gives parents the freedom to enjoy their baby, hands free and Frost has reviewed it. 
I am a huge fan of baby slings. They tend to soothe a crying baby and you can breastfeed with them on the go. The Aura baby wrap has the advantage of being able to breastfeed without using a breastfeeding scarf. Perfect for when you forget your scarf, which I have done many times and then had a panic. Some baby wraps and slings really hurt your back but this one sits well and is comfortable. Putting it on is daunting at first. You spread it out and it looks impossible but it is easy when you get the hang of it. Even for me. It also has an integrated pocket for storage.
 
I cannot say how much I love this wrap. It is light and breathable for baby. It is also soft against the skin. It looks good and baby loves it. I cannot recommend it enough. Baby is happy, safe and secure up to 13.6kg or 30lbs. A parenting essential.

The Aura Baby Wrap comes in three stylish colourways; Grey Stripes, Indigo and Sage and comes in a light and durable fabric which keeps babies cool when snuggled up close to the parent’s body.

 

http://www.ergobaby.co.uk

 

 

Mokee’s Upcycled Wool Bag | Frost Loves

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Mokee’s Upcycled Wool Bag

We love stylish things at Frost and this gorgeous upcycled bag from Mokee, the design-led baby furniture company, is more gorgeous than most. it is their first ever bag – the upcycled WoolBag.

mokee wool bag

Made from off-cuts of their woolnest, the felt material is matched with the colourful straps and is big enough to throw all your baby products in there.  Or, keep it for yourself- this stylish bag shouldn’t just be used for nappies.

The bag is roomy and long. It will easily fit onto a pram handle. It is also a great bag for shopping. it is great quality and well made. We love.

Coming soon at https://en.mokee.eu/

 

 

Five Essential Goal-Setting Habits for the Entrepreneur By Emine Suleyman, author of Aliya

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Ever wondered why some people get ahead and others tread water? It’s not luck, says life coach, mindfulness expert and career mentor Emine Suleyman – it’s about how well they spend their time. Here, Emine offers her own top 5 habits that every budding entrepreneur should practice to realise their ambitions in 2018. Her new book Aliya, a practical day-to- day productivity diary for 2018, is available now priced £25.

Habit #1: Clarify & Regularly Reaffirm Your Life Mission  

We spend the majority of our adult lives working, so we owe it ourselves to spend that time doing something we love and that we feel is a reflection of who we are and what we want to say to the world.

Finding our element – living a life of purpose – is crucial to our wellbeing and to our success. This has been well documented. The sooner we can clarify our life mission statement the sooner we can begin a fuller more satisfying life.

So how do you start? Kick back with a pen and a diary and write down what it means to be successful in your life and on your own terms. Make lists of all that you love doing, what all your skills are, what problems you feel connected to in your community or in the world.

Upon regular reflection of your purpose and these three lists, your day-to-day life will reveal a common thread where you can creatively tie aspects from each list into new ideas and projects. The side projects you pursue could well evolve into a great income and lifestyle over time.

Habit #2: Self -Reflection

Self-reflection is the school of wisdom. It is no secret that a regular practice of self-reflection is necessary for mental and physical health. Allow this to be a humbling process and use it to look back over your last year. Life must be understood backwards before it is effectively lived forward. At the end of each year, ask yourself: what were all my highlights? What challenges did I face and how did I grow through them?  Writing your answers down is a great way of extracting them into physical form and owning them.

In addition to annual self-reflection, regular monthly reflection throughout your year is a habit worth cultivating. We can do this is our diaries each month. Self-reflection helps to build two components to emotional intelligence: self-awareness and self-regulation. This gives us the ability to understand our emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals, and to recognise their impact.

Habit #3: Set & Monitor Goals

You have more efficacy to create your life than you may realise. What matters most is right now. You cannot change the past and the future hasn’t yet happened, so the only thing we can change is the moment. How you feel right now and the story you’re telling yourself will transcend as your future. Put aside all limiting beliefs and ask yourself, what would I do if I knew couldn’t fail? Literally make an inventory of all your dreams in your diary. Remember that we go only as far as our imagination takes us. Include a range of short, mid and long-term goals over the next three months, one year, three years, five years, 10 years and 20 years.

After listing all that you would love to have a go at in life, review your list and pick your top 3- 5 priority goals to get started on. Break each chosen top goal down into 5 actionable steps. Then simply give each step a deadline in your diary. You can include a reward for each goal if you wish. At the end of each month make it a habit to reflect on the previous four weeks and review your progress.

Habit #4: Identify Two Priority Tasks Daily

Before you go about your day or perhaps from the night before, take a moment to pause and decide what two things you can do today that will have the biggest impact on getting you to your goals. This habit is so simple yet so powerful and has the ability to focus your mind each day. Forget checking emails and running small errands until your two priority tasks for the day are done.

Habit #5: Keep a Gratitude List

The benefits linked to gratitude are one of the most beautiful things about life itself. Whilst a whole book can be written on all the endless benefits, I would just outline a few. It opens the door for better relationships, improves physical health, psychological health, enhances empathy and reduces aggression, helps you sleep better, increases mental strength and boosts self-esteem. It just simply makes us happy; if there were a key to happiness, this would be it.

Saying ‘thank you’ for all that we have and experience, doing it often and actually writing it down is the most important habit of all.

Aliya by Emine Suleyman is out now, priced £25 in hardback. Visit www.planmyvision.co.uk

 

Top Books For December

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Becoming Hitler. The Making of a Nazi by Thomas Weber

A fascinating and well researched book. 

The story of the making of Adolf Hitler that we are all familiar with is the one Hitler himself wove in his 1924 trial, and then expanded upon in Mein Kampf. It tells of his rapid emergence as National Socialist leader in 1919, and of how he successfully rallied most of Munich and the majority of Bavaria’s establishment to support the famous beer-hall putsch of 1923. It is an account which has largely been taken at face value for over ninety years. Yet, on closer examination, Hitler’s account of his experiences in the years immediately following the First World War turns out to be every bit as unreliable as his account of his experiences as a soldier during the war itself.

In Becoming Hitler, Thomas Weber continues from where he left off in his previous book, Hitler’s First War, stripping away the layers of myth and fabrication in Hitler’s own tale to tell the real story of Hitler’s politicization and radicalization in post-First World War Munich. It is the gripping account of how an awkward and unemployed loner with virtually no recognizable leadership qualities and fluctuating political ideas turned into the charismatic, self-assured, virulently anti-Semitic leader with an all-or-nothing approach to politics with whom the world was soon to become tragically familiar. As Weber clearly shows, far from the picture of a fully-formed political leader which Hitler wanted to portray in Mein Kampf, his ideas and priorities were still very uncertain and largely undefined in early 1919 ― and they continued to shift until 1923.

It was the failed Ludendorff putsch of November 1923 – and the subsequent Ludendorff trial ― which was to prove the making of Hitler. And he was not slow to spot the opportunity that it offered. As the movers and shakers of Munich’s political scene tried to blame everything on him in the course of the trial, Hitler was presented with a golden opportunity to place himself at the centre of attention, turning what had been the ‘Ludendorff trial’ into the ‘Hitler trial’. Henceforth, he would no longer be merely a local Bavarian political leader. From now on, he would present himself as a potential ‘national saviour’. In the months after the trial, Hitler cemented this myth by writing Mein Kampf from his comfortable prison cell. His years of metamorphosis were now behind him. His years as Führer were soon to come.

Becoming Hitler. The Making of a Nazi by Thomas Weber is available here.

Enid Blyton Five Get On The Property Ladder

Hilarious. It is impossible to not be amused by this funny and clever book. Perfect for fans of The Famous Five but also timely. Both retro and modern.

Enid Blyton’s books are beloved the world over and The Famous Five have been the perennial favourite of her fans. Now, in this new series of Enid Blyton for Grown-Ups, George, Dick, Anne, Julian and Timmy turn their attention to finding a property they can call their very own.

Join the Five as they struggle to get their feet (and paws) on the first rung of the property ladder. Luckily cousin Rupert is on hand to help. But not before they’ve had some very exciting adventures. Who knew that it was all going to be so difficult?

Enid Blyton Five Get On The Property Ladder is available here.

Sketchy Muma By Anna Lewis

A wonderful illustrated book which tells the truth about motherhood. 

This gorgeous little book charts the various bewildering stages of becoming a mother, from those tell-tale blue lines in the pregnancy test, to labour, birth, coming home and venturing out. Breastfeeding nightmares, eating dinner with one hand, soft play hell and chronic sleep deprivation – but also the sheer beauty of falling in love again and the amazing discovery of what it’s like to have a family – these are all captured in Sketchy Muma’s glorious drawings.

This is the perfect gift book for both young and experienced parents. Anna Lewis understands the light and shade that comes with motherhood, and it is those universal truths that will connect all those parents who delight in her sketches.

Sketchy Muma By Anna Lewis is available here.

The Book of Forgotten Authors By Christopher Fowler

This is a great book full of authors who deserve to be more famous. Will have you rushing to the bookshop or nodding your head in agreement, or disapproval. 

Absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. It makes people think you’re dead.

So begins Christopher Fowler’s foray into the back catalogues and backstories of 99 authors who, once hugely popular, have all but disappeared from our shelves.

Whether male or female, domestic or international, flash-in-the-pan or prolific, mega-seller or prize-winner – no author, it seems, can ever be fully immune from the fate of being forgotten. And Fowler, as well as remembering their careers, lifts the lid on their lives, and why they often stopped writing or disappeared from the public eye.

These 99 journeys are punctuated by 12 short essays about faded once-favourites: including the now-vanished novels Walt Disney brought to the screen, the contemporary rivals of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie who did not stand the test of time, and the women who introduced us to psychological suspense many decades before it conquered the world.

This is a book about books and their authors. It is for book lovers, and is written by one who could not be a more enthusiastic, enlightening and entertaining guide.

The Book of Forgotten Authors By Christopher Fowler is available here.

You Do You By Sarah Knight

More great (anti) advice from Sarah Knight. Funny and tough: this book is perfect to kick you into action in January. 

In The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k, our favourite ‘anti-guru’ Sarah Knight unleashed the power of saying no. In Get Your Sh*t Together, she prioritised the sh*t you need and want to do so you can achieve your hopes and dreams. Now she’s back, doubling down on your happiness with her latest message: You Do You.

Being yourself should be the easiest thing in the world. Yet instead of leaning in to who we are, we fight it, listening too closely to what society tells us. You Do You helps you shake off those expectations, say f**k perfect, start looking out for number one and keep on with your badass self. From career and finances to relationships and family, lifestyle and health, Sarah Knight rips up the rulebook.

Writing about her mistakes and embarrassments in her own personal quest to ‘do me’ – because nobody gets everything right all day, every day – Sarah Knight shows why you can and should f**k up and teaches you to let yourself off the hook, bounce back and keep standing tall.

You Do You By Sarah Knight is available here.

Etiquette Rules! A Field Guide to Modern Manners By Nancy R. Mitchell

Full of common-sense and excellent advice. A book that everyone should read. 

Has there ever been a time when courtesy and kindness are needed more? We need only follow the news, drive down a road, look around our communities, or visit a favorite social-media site to know there is an etiquette crisis. With rudeness rampant and civility on life support, it’s time for each and every one of us to take a hard look at our behaviors to determine if we are contributing to the problem or helping to combat it.

Enter Etiquette Rules! A Field Guide to Modern Manners, a common-sense examination of etiquette as an operating system for living life with kindness and courtesy as we work, play, shop, drive, dine, and interact in our real and virtual communities. Arranged by events and settings, the book clearly and succinctly defines rudeness and suggests corrective measures. Readers will not only raise their etiquette IQ, but will change their mindset about manners because Etiquette Rules! jettisons the old-school notion that etiquette is how to properly hold a teacup. In reality, it is a powerful tool that can help everyone feel comfortable and confident in a variety of situations, build personal and business relationships more easily, demonstrate respect for others, and live lives that flow more smoothly. Courtesy is contagious, and Etiquette Rules!will help to jump-start a saving pandemic.

Etiquette Rules! A Field Guide to Modern Manners By Nancy R. Mitchell is available here.

How To Draw Almost Every Animal. An Illustrated Sourcebook By Chika Miyata

A perfect book for any artist. A brilliant how-to to help you draw (almost) any animal. 

Not sure how to start your drawing of a flamingo or a flying squirrel? Boggled by how to draw an antelope, an armadillo, or a cheetah? How to Draw Almost Every Animal is here to help!

Have you ever wondered how to draw a hippopotamus? Or a lazy, brown dog? Or a hedgehog? Then this collection of over 75 adorable animals to draw and doodle is just the book for you!

This teaching tool does more than just show you completed pictures of the animals. Each illustration is broken down with step-by-step diagrams and helpful tips to truly teach you how to draw. Plus, we’ve included extra images to teach you how to draw animals relaxing in their natural habitats and on the move.

A helpful how-to section includes valuable coloring tips and techniques for mastering fur and feather, spots, stripes, scales, spines, and everything else animals are covered in.

How To Draw Almost Every Animal. An Illustrated Sourcebook By Chika Miyata is available here.

Please Don’t Do Coke In The Bathroom: Irreverent Hand Lettering For Every F*cking Occasion By Sami Christianson

An inappropriate sweary book. This is your guide to lettering told in an adult- and funny- way. 

Who says art has to be delicate and proper? Get angry, get creative, get your sweary soul out and do it beautifully! Please Don’t Do Coke in the Bathroom is your guide to mature (and funny) lettering.

Creatively express your irreverent attitude and sarcastic sentiments with beautiful calligraphy and hand lettering! Send an artfully lettered note telling your boss to f*ck off, let a friend know her cat is kind of an a$$hole, or share your true feelings about kale with the help of this laugh-out-loud lettering book for adults.

Featuring a crash course in calligraphy and hand lettering the alphabet, this book also includes a selection of removable hand-lettered signs with inappropriate sayings like “Monday is a D*ck,” “Your Spirit Animal is an A$$hole,” and more.

Now you can create your own brazen billboards or hostile stationery, or tell the sh*tty person in your life how you really feel, with delicate swirls and hand-drawn letters gleaned from Please Don’t Do Coke in the Bathroom. After all, if you’re going to tell someone they suck, it might as well look good when you do it!

Please Don’t Do Coke In The Bathroom: Irreverent Hand Lettering For Every F*cking Occasion By Sami Christianson.

How The Universe Works

A wondrous book. Excellently illustrated and fascinating. 

It’s hard to imagine how big the universe is, but with help from How the Universe Works, you can get to know what makes it tick.

The cosmos is a complex and intricate system that astronomers have been trying to dissect for years. From Galileo and Copernicus to the Space Race and Modern Day NASA missions, humanity has craved more knowledge about the universe and how it works. Hundreds of years of scientific discovery, and there’s still so much to learn. How the Universe Works is the latest installment in a series of books that deconstructs how things work and explains in a format that is easy to understand.

With beautiful and detailed visuals in the form of info-graphics, 3D illustrations, cutaways and renderings, How the Universe Works offers a tiny glimpse of the massive stretch of the universe.  Each page delves more into the composition of the stars and shows the information in such a way that makes even the most complex phenomenons easy to understand. Learn how different cosmic bodies interact with one another, why, and how humanity has worked to understand space.

The observable universe spans billions and billions of light years. How the Universe Works is a work intended to put the cosmos in the hands of its readers. Understanding the most complex mechanisms that rule space is quite a task, but with information for the entire family, this editorial ally is perfect for getting immersed in the intricacies of the observable universe and all its natural beauty.

How The Universe Works is available here. 

Here’s why it’s a bad idea to stick cotton buds in your ears

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Cotton buds is a household essential for many of us, but now health professionals have warned that using them could potentially damage your hearing.

But why do we have ear wax in the first place and what kind of damage can cotton buds cause? National charity Action on Hearing Loss has the answers.

Ear wax – it’s brown, sticky, and many of us don’t want it; it’s gross! You may even be wondering what the point of it is. Well, it is mostly harmless and even has a lot of good qualities, like protecting our ears from nasty bugs and germs.

However, some people produce far too much wax or are prone to their ears blocking up, which is one of the biggest causes of temporary hearing loss. It’s also a major cause of hearing aid failure.

If you are worried about a blocked ear because of wax the biggest temptation is of course reaching for the cotton buds.

But in a new report published by NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), experts said that using cotton buds could push the wax further down into the ear causing damage to the ear canal and ear drum.

It also states that ear syringing, where a large manual syringe is used to pump water into the ear, is potentially harmful and should no longer be used.

Gemma Twitchen, Senior Audiologist for Action on Hearing Loss, said: “Actually for many of us, wax is not an issue and believe it or to our ears are self-cleaning. If you are worried about a blocked ear because of wax  many of us automatically use cotton buds, or even worse hair pins, or anything else you think you may be able to fit into your ears. I’ve even heard of people sticking their car keys in their ears! So, what can you do about it?

“We strongly do not recommended putting anything in your ears as it can make the matter worse- all of these can push the wax further down into the ears and make it harder for the wax to come out of the ear naturally.

“If you have any trouble with your ears, consult your GP who will arrange the best course of action to remove it safely, if need be.”

For more details about ear wax and why we have it, visit https://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/how-we-help/information-and-resources/publications/hearing-health/ear-wax/

For the full NICE report published this week, visit: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-cgwave0833

 

Why Cybersecurity Can Win the Fight Against Islamic Extremism By Cosmo Clark

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Cosmo Clark is a cybersecurity and cyber terrorism analyst and observer whose first novel, Blue Eyed Infidel, a satirical sci-fi thriller in the vein of Orwell’s 1984, hits the UK shelves this week. Here Clark (a pseudonym) argues that computers, not bombs, will win the war on terror.

What do you think is the best way to win an argument? When I was at primary school, John Biggers, the village bully, thought he had the answer: to punch me in the face. Hard.

But violence didn’t work in the playground and it doesn’t work in the real world, either. Invading Iraq and bombing ISIS in Syria might win a few headlines for politicians, but in the long term, all it really does is create more terrorists, and leads directly to more attacks here in the UK.

It is my firm view (and one shared by a wealth of academics) that technology, not bombs, will win the global war on terror.

1. In-APP-propriate action: why we should boost, not ban, encrypted chat apps

Extremists talk to each other using secretive, encrypted chat apps. That’s how they groom new members, organise attacks and keep out of the public eye.

Our kneejerk reaction to that has always been to shut these apps down. But that would be a big mistake. Banning one type of app (or making it less secure) will only lead to more. That is a battle that can never be won.

Instead, we should be encouraging their use; remember, loose lips have and always will sink ships. We should be using covert spyware to infiltrate the apps and identify the bad guys.

2. Jihadi Join: why UK spies should be posing as online extremists

Islamic extremists will never love the UK. They don’t feel loyalty to a passport, only to their God. Trying to force them into ‘being British’ or to ‘integrate’ is a total waste of time and money, and just helps them know what to say in order to disappear into our society.

Instead, we should talk to extremists online in ways that make sense to them. To start with, that will involve doing things which will seem completely counter-intuitive. Let’s say you are a jihadi who wants to blow himself up. If you create an online persona as someone who can help them make that bomb, it’ll be much easier to grab the perpetrator – and the rest of his terror cell – when the time comes.

3. Dead ringer: using deceased ISIS fighters to communicate with terror cells

Technology changes quickly, but we’ve got two exclusive advantages right now that we should be using more. Firstly, we must put more pressure on social media companies like Facebook and YouTube to track (rather than ban) and report on Islamic extremists using their platforms. That’s harder than you might think.

Secondly, we’ve got access to cool resources like artificial intelligence. My favourite idea is to create fake cyber-personalities, ‘chatbots’ if you like, which are smart enough to hold conversations with real-world Islamic extremists. To be genuinely believable, these cyber-personalities could actually appear to be real people. There are roughly 25,000 Islamic extremists in the UK, and about 1,000 British jihadis who went to fight for ISIS and who have since gone missing. If a few of those deceased individuals popped up online, they could be treated as heroes. Only those ‘in the know’ would ever know the truth.

Blue Eyed Infidel by Cosmo Clark is out now, priced £9.99 in paperback and £3.49 as an eBook, and is available at Amazon UK. Visit www.cosmoclark.com.

 

The Folio Society Celebrates Poetry

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Let January Be Your Time to Relax and Reconnect

 

Whether you over indulged over the festive season or just want to unwind, poetry is a great way to relax the mind.  The Folio Society has produced three very different, equally lovely volumes of poetry for those looking for a bit of inner peace:

 

  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner & Three Other Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • Selected Poems by Rumi
  • The Book of Psalms

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER & THREE OTHER POEMS
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

& Three Other Poems

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Illustrated by Harry Brockway

 

Available exclusively from www.foliosociety.com

 

 

Bound in cloth, blocked with a design by the artist. Set in Albertina. 120 pages. Frontispiece and 23 integrated black & white wood engravings. Blocked slipcase. 11¾˝ x 8¾˝.

 

UK £34.95|US $51.95|Can $69.95|Aus $69.95

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was the most innovative and influential of all the English Romantic poets. This beautiful edition emulates our popular limited edition, with four immortal poems superbly illustrated by Harry Brockway, one of the UK’s leading wood-engravers. A striking binding design by the artist and a blocked slipcase make this the perfect vessel for Coleridge’s fantastical journeys.

 

From the mystical power of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ to the visionary magnificence of ‘Kubla Khan’, Coleridge’s work reshaped the landscape of English poetry. He forged new paths in philosophy and criticism, but it is his poems that have earned him pre-eminence. His images are embedded in our cultural consciousness: the beauty and perils of Xanadu; the ‘glittering eye’ of the ancient mariner; the ‘charméd water’ of deathly seas.

 

This edition unites ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ with three poems published as a single volume in 1816: ‘Christabel’, ‘Kubla Khan’ and ‘The Pains of Sleep’. All were exceptionally influential on later writers: Mary Shelley in Frankenstein, Bram Stoker in Dracula and Herman Melville in Moby-Dick all explicitly refer to ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.

 

The final poem, ‘The Pains of Sleep’, is one of Coleridge’s most personal, written during a nightmare-ridden period of withdrawal from laudanum, the drug to which he was addicted. It is an outpouring that uncovered his deepest soul, his sense of wasted promise and guilt, and his desperate, childlike yearning for love.

Illustration by Harry Brockway from The Folio Society edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

& Three Other Poems ©Harry Brockway

 

SELECTED POEMS BY RUMI
Selected Poems

By Rumi (Jallād-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī )

Translated by Coleman Barks

Introduced by Michael Schmidt

Illustrated by Marian Bantjes

 

Available exclusive from www.foliosociety.com

 

Bound in cloth blocked with a design by the artist. Set in Arno Pro. 376 pages.

Printed with metallic blue and rose gold patterns throughout. Ribbon marker.

Plain slipcase. 8¾” x 7¾”

 

UK £39.95|US $59.95|Can $81.95|Aus $79.95

 

Rumi is celebrated across the Islamic world as a visionary thinker, his verses revered as masterpieces of Persian literature. Nearly 750 years after Rumi’s death, Coleman Barks’s vibrant translations have also achieved the unlikely feat of making him the best-selling poet in the USA.  The poems have even been among the favourites of Madonna, Tilda Swinton, Beyonce & Jay-Z and Chris Martin.

 

Shortly after his birth in present-day Afghanistan in 1207, Rumi’s family were forced to flee Mongol invaders, eventually settling in Konya, in modern-day Turkey. It was there in 1244 that he encountered the eccentric Sufi dervish, Shams of Tabriz. Their intense spiritual friendship was shattered by Shams’s sudden departure a devastating loss which changed the course of Rumi’s life. Over the next 30 years, he produced prodigious outpourings of verse and prose, addressing readers with rare directness – by turns confrontational and playful, lyrical and abrupt, and his range is extraordinary. With his inclusive vision of the world and his tolerance, wisdom and humour, this 13th-century mystic continues to speak to 21st-century readers with startling immediacy.

 

Coleman Barks first encountered Rumi’s poems in 1976, when a fellow author showed him academic translations with the suggestion that ‘these poems need to be released from their cages’. Barks responded by producing what he calls ‘playful palimpsests’ – epigrammatic free-verse translations that allow Rumi’s distinctive voice to bridge vast gaps of culture, geography, language and time. Barks’s ‘Selected Poems’ capture Rumi’s spirit without imprisoning it.

 

This beautiful edition features a spectacular binding designed by Marian Bantjes. Her intricate Islamic-inspired geometric patterns also frame every page of text, evoking the music and whirling dances associated with Rumi’s poems, and encouraging us to lose ourselves in his words.

 

 

THE BOOK OF PSALMS
The Book of Psalms

(From the Authorised King James Version of the Bible)

Introduced by Valentine Cunningham

Lettering designed by Jessica Hische

 

Bound in cloth blocked with lettering by the artist. Set in Arno. 296 pages. Printed in 2 colours throughout. Gilt rose-gold page tops. Ribbon marker. Blocked slipcase. 6¼” x 4¼”

 

UK £24.95|US $36.95|Can $49.95|Aus $49.95

The Book of Psalms is the spiritual ‘heart’ of the Bible, a key instrument of communal worship for practising Christians and Jews and a focus for private devotion. The 150 Psalms also form the ancient world’s greatest collection of poetry, continuing to speak to readers with unparalleled power more than 2,500 years after they were first composed.

 

Known in Hebrew simply as Tehillim or ‘Praises’, the Psalms take us from the heights of confidence to the depths of self-doubt, from crippling despair to overwhelming joy. With their highly personal outpourings and vast psychological range, reading the Psalms remains an intense religious, literary and emotional experience.

 

The King James Version is the definitive translation of the Bible, unique in its influence on the culture and literature of the English-speaking world. Commissioned by James I in 1604, it took a committee of 47 pre-eminent scholars the next 7 years to complete. With its deliberate archaism, literal translation of Hebrew metaphors and sensitivity to the spoken word, its version of The Book of Psalms captures the essence of the original Hebrew text while achieving its own poetry.

 

In his new introduction, Valentine Cunningham explores the Psalms’ enduring power as a source of literary, religious, political and personal inspiration – and how their language has become our language.

 

This exquisite edition fits perfectly into the hand, allowing an intensely personal reading experience and an intimate connection with these soul-searching poems. Jessica Hische’s beautiful lettering and the generous layouts bring new clarity to the text, whether one is focusing on a single Psalm or experiencing their cumulative effect, reading aloud or for silent contemplation, as poetry or prayer.