James Crews – författare

James Crews, editor of two best-selling poetry anthologies, How to Love the World and The Path to Kindness, presents an all-new collection of highly accessible poems on the theme of celebrating moments of wonder and peace in everyday life. As Crews writes in the introduction: "[A] deep love for the world is present in every one of the poems gathered in this book. Wonder calls us back to the curiosity we are each born with, and it makes us want to move closer to what sparks our attention. Wonder opens our senses and helps us stay in touch with a humbling sense of our own human smallness in the face of unexpected beauty and the delicious mysteries of life on this planet."The anthology features a foreword by Nikita Gill and a carefully curated selection of poems from a diverse range of authors, including Native American poets Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Kimberly Blaeser, and Joseph Bruchac, and BIPOC writers Ross Gay, Julia Alvarez, and Toi Derricotte. Crews features new poems from popular writers such as Natalie Goldberg, Mark Nepo, Ted Kooser, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirshfield, and Jacqueline Suskin, along with selections from emerging poets. Readers are guided in exploring the meaning and essence of the poems through a series of reflective pauses scattered through the pages and reading group questions in the back. This anthology offers the perfect intersection for the growing number of readers interested in mindful living and bringing poetry into their everyday lives.

For any of us, what stays? For the arsonist's wife who has not yet left? The devout saint trudging another mile in his nail-shoes? The lost couple in their dying moments in a Nebraska blizzard? The old woman who refuses to leave her home in Chernobyl? With an unflinching eye, James Crews gives us the forbidden love, forbidden unions, and secret lives that, whatever the loss, the attrition, the cost, we must acknowledge, must hold, must keep. And here, in Crews's finely wrought, deeply felt poems, is their testimony.

The summer of 2020 has shown us how much we all depend on one another.Whatever else they do, pandemics show us we are not alone. Covid-19 is proof that, yes, there is such a thing as society; the disease has spread precisely because we aren’t autonomous individuals disconnected from each other, but rather all belong to one great body of humanity. The pain inflicted by the pandemic is far from equally distributed. Yet it reveals ever more clearly how much we all depend on one another, and how urgently necessary it is for us to bear one another’s burdens.It’s a good time, then, to talk about solidarity. The more so because it’s a theme that’s also raised by this year’s other major development, the international protests for racial justice following George Floyd’s death. The protests, too, raised the question of solidarity in guilt, even guilt across generations. By taking up our common guilt with all humanity, we come into solidarity with the one who bears it and redeems it all. In Christ, sins are forgiven, guilt abolished, and a new way of living together becomes possible. This solidarity in forgiveness gives rise to a life of love.This issue of Plough explores what solidarity means, and what it looks like to live it out today, whether in Uganda, Bolivia, or South Korea, in an urban church, a Bruderhof, or a convent.

In Every Waking Moment, James Crews plumbs his past and family life for insights, yet always returns to the moment at hand, approaching the world with mindfulness, openness, and clarity. He finds the miraculous in a shaft of sunlight while waiting for the subway, in an eagle glimpsed from a train along the Hudson, or in the fields of sweet corn surrounding his house.Crews reminds us over and over in this meditative new collection: "You must / put yourself in the path of joy / to find it."

An Indie Poetry Bestseller! What the world needs now – featuring poems from inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, Ross Gay, Tracy K. Smith and more. More and more people are turning to poetry as an antidote to divisiveness, negativity, anxiety, and the frenetic pace of life. How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope offers readers uplifting, deeply felt, and relatable poems by well-known poets from all walks of life and all parts of the US, including inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, Joy Harjo, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ross Gay, Tracy K. Smith, and others. The work of these poets captures the beauty, pleasure, and connection readers hunger for. How to Love the World, which contains new works by Ted Kooser, Mark Nepo, and Jane Hirshfield, invites readers to use poetry as part of their daily gratitude practice to uncover the simple gifts of abundance and joy to be found everywhere. With pauses for stillness and invitations for writing and reflection throughout, as well as reading group questions and topics for discussion in the back, this book can be used to facilitate discussion in a classroom or in any group setting.

Following the success and momentum of his anthology How to Love the World (93,000 copies in print), James Crews's new collection, The Path to Kindness, offers more than 100 deeply felt and relatable poems from a diverse range of voices including well-known writers Julia Alvarez, Marie Howe, Ellen Bass, Naomi Shihab Nye, Alberto Ríos, Ross Gay, and Ada Limón, as well as new and emerging voices. Featured Black poets include January Gill O’Neil, Tracy K. Smith, and Cornelius Eady. Native American poets include Kimberly Blaeser, Joy Harjo (current U.S. Poet Laureate), and Linda Hogan. The collection also features international voices, including Canadian poets Lorna Crozier and Susan Musgrave. Presented in the same perfect-in-the-hand format as How to Love the World, the collection includes prompts for journaling and exploration of selected poems, a book group guide, bios of all the contributing poets, and stunning cover art by award-winning artist Dinara Mirtalipova. A foreword by Danusha Laméris, along with her popular poem "Small Kindnesses," is also included.

James Crews's three anthologies of contemporary poems celebrating hope, wonder, kindness, and connection packaged in a beautiful gift box set with the addition of four illustrated poem cards suitable for framing. These are the poems our world needs now. Together, the three books include over 300 poems by a diverse selection of leading and emerging contemporary poets, including Amanda Gorman, Ross Gay, Ada Limón, Jane Hirshfield, Tracy K. Smith, Julia Alvarez, Ellen Bass, Danusha Laméris, Li-Young Lee, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joy Harjo, Joseph Bruchac, Nikita Gill, Linda Hogan, Mark Nepo, Alberto Ríos, and others. Special bonus feature: four frameable prints of poems by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Kimberly Blaeser, Paula Gordon Lepp, and a new poem by James Crews.

This luminous and open-hearted anthology of poems from the LGBTQIA+ community proves that there is nothing more universal than love. Edited by James Crews with his husband, Brad Peacock, and illustrated by Lisa Congdon, these compassionate poems of connection and affirmation are a celebration of all kinds of love-romantic, family, friendship, self-love, and love for nature. The poems are gathered from a diverse group of contemporary writers, both part of and allied with the LGBTQIA+ community, with a special focus on queer, nonbinary, and transgender poets. Contributors include Andrea Gibson, Ellen Bass, Nikita Gill, Mark Doty, Audre Lorde, Richard Blanco, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Danez Smith, Joy Ladin, Carl Phillips, Li-Young Lee, and many others. Brief essays called "Stories of Becoming" act as touchstones throughout the book, telling the inspiring and touching stories of LGBTQIA+ people whose experiences may bring hope to others.

A soul-sustaining collection of inspirational words you can turn to during moments when strength and clarity is needed, from bestselling author and editor James Crews. Slow down, awaken to your surroundings, and draw strength from the divine in the smallest details of your life: that is what award-winning poet James Crews teaches in this new poetry collection. In The Sacred Everyday, we are invited to find the pause in every moment and heal by cultivating a sense of wonder—for nature, each other, and our world. This book of uplifting and highly accessible poems, accompanied by a selection of ten “reflective pauses” that provide prompts for journaling and reflection, serves as the perfect complement to Crews’s bestselling body of work, modeling for readers how the smallest moments of deep attention can also be the most joyful and nourishing. The Sacred Everyday is the perfect gift for anyone with a gentle mindfulness practice or an interest in spirituality who is looking for clarity and grounding in this sometimes-overwhelming world.

From the editor of the best-selling poetry anthology How to Love the World, the upbeat and hopeful writings in Kindness Will Save the World are a breath of fresh air that highlight what’s good in the world and how to create more of it.Award-winning writer James Crews shows how moments of connection can be found in even the most ordinary of encounters. His writing is intimate and personal, as he reflects on his daily life living in the Vermont countryside with his husband, while also relatable when exploring shared human experiences. Kindness Will Save the World inspires reflection on one’s own life, how to find the positive in little moments, and how to radiate kindness to those around you. Spanning only a few pages’ length each, the 100 unique stories can be read in minutes, whenever you need a quick dose of positivity. Read an uplifting piece each morning or night to gain optimism and inspiration for the new day ahead. With journaling prompts throughout and highlighted Kindness Practices, James gives you the tools to integrate the life-changing practice of kindness into your own life, and shows that kindness doesn’t need to be difficult or time-consuming — it can be found in the smallest moments.

Writing can be cathartic. It can be healing. And you do not have to be a writer to benefit from the healing and meditative effects of writing. Likewise, you do not have to be a meditator to experience the life-changing power of mindfulness and self-compassion. But sometimes, writing can be frustrating, when you can’t seem to find the way to express your feelings on paper, so that the healing can begin. Unlocking the Heart: Writing for Mindfulness, Courage, and Self-Compassion is a book for those seeking to bring more self-care and creativity into their routines. Award-winning poet and author James Crews shares his poems with subjects ranging from vulnerability and grief to courage and gratitude. But more than just a poetry anthology, each poem is accompanied by James’s personal insight into his inspiration and state of mind when writing his poetry, and writing prompts to help inspire you get started on your writing journey. It is the perfect book for anyone who is interested in the poetic work of others or is inspired to try any kind of writing for themselves. But whether r not you want to write your own poetry, this deeply moving, and ultimately inspiring, practice in mindfulness can help bring self-compassion, courage, and creativity into your daily life. Award-winning author: James Crews is the recipient of the Prairie Schooner Prize and Cowles Prize. His writing has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Ploughshares, and Sun Magazine. The perfect companion: Unlocking the Heart is the perfect companion to Kindness Will Save the World and How to Love the World, as well the rest of James Crews’ growing bibliography. Foreword by bestselling poet and philosopher Mark Nepo, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Book of Awakening, pens a thoughtful and insightful foreword to Crews’ work.

With the world returning to its old, unsustainable pace (and expecting us to return with it), we all must learn how to make time to slow down, to pause, and to appreciate the beauty around us. In this inspiring collection of poems, award-winning poet and mindfulness educator James Crews models how the smallest moments of deep attention can also be the most joyful and healing. Each poem offers gentle wisdom and comfort, providing life-changing insights that will resonate long after the last page.There should be a room in every houseor office building set aside strictlyfor breathing. No speaking allowed,no phones, clocks, or other devicesmay be brought inside. Let the wallsbe empty and white, only potted fernsstirring near windows thrown opento a night-breeze bearing the scentsof jasmine and lilac. You can countif you like until your heartbeat slowsto its own natural pace, and your mind'sas blank as a page in the back of a book.If someone asks for directions, sayit’s the room at the end of the hallwith nothing else in it but a few plantsand all the air you can breathe.AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR: James Crews is an award-winning poet and writer. His work has been awarded the Prairie Schooner Prize and Cowles Prize. He has also been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Ploughshares, and The Sun Magazine.UNIVERSAL THEMES: Crews’s poems are accessible and relatable, exploring the universal experiences of rest, reflection, and renewal.ENCOURAGES MINDFULNESS: Breathing Room emphasizes the importance of slowing down and cultivating peace amid life’s chaos.THOUGHTFUL GIFT: A gorgeous illustrated hardcover case, satin ribbon marker, and spot illustrations throughout make this a giftable collector’s item that will be treasured for decades.