Published by Bloodaxe Books, 2002, softcover, index, 496 pages, condition: as new.
Staying Alive is an international anthology of 500 life-affirming poems fired by belief in the human and the spiritual at a time when much in the world feels unreal, inhuman and hollow. These are poems of great personal force connecting our aspirations with our humanity, helping us stay alive to the world and stay true to ourselves. Many people turn to poetry only at unreal times, whether for consolation in loss or affirmation in love, or when facing other extremes and anxieties. Staying Alive includes many of the great modern love poems and elegies, but it also shows the power of poetry in celebrating the ordinary miracle, taking you on a journey around many of the different aspects of everyday life explored in poems. A strong poem is not just for crisis. Such a poem is there for all times, helping us face or embrace daily change and disruption. It will also speak to us when nothing seems to be happening, when the poem's importance is in helping us stay alive to the world and stay true to ourselves. Staying Alive has reached a wider readership than any other anthology of contemporary poetry. It is a landmark in the history of literary publishing. A sequel, Being Alive (2004), and a companion anthology, Being Human (2011), complete this poetry "trilogy".
Poetry is very hard to review and even harder to anthologize. Many editors are guided by tradition. The same old poems turn up time and time again. Most poetry doesn't sell well, so what editor would take a risk on including poets most readers have never heard of? This means that finding fresh, good poems is really hard and can be expensive.
Enter Neil Astley, an extraordinary man and the founder of Bloodaxe Books. He has spent a lifetime devoted to other people's poetry. Unlike many literary men, he has an open mind, vast experience, breathtaking vision and colossal self-assurance. These poems are varied and various, consistently good, and striking without being difficult or obscure. I particularly like the way Neil places poems with contrasting viewpoints side by side. It is typical of his approach, inclusive, balanced and pluralistic. If reading so much poetry can lead to this kind of enlightenment, let's all read more poetry.
