365 Poems for Life by Allie Esiri

Discover the comfort of poetry with 365 Poems for Life, an uplifting collection from curator Allie Esiri.

This nourishing poem-a-day collection offers readers a brief moment of escape from daily life through some of the warmest words in the English language. Whether you’re searching for wisdom or looking to boost your wellbeing, dip into this anthology to share with others or enjoy a quiet moment of calm every day of the year.

Explore a wide range of poets, including Ocean Vuong, Maya Angelou, Kae Tempest, Raymond Antrobus, Carol Ann Duffy and many more. The perfect gift for poetry lovers and newbies alike, this beautiful anthology brings a moment of solace every day of the year.

---

I don't read a lot of poetry. No particular reason; I appreciate the art form and I think people who can write poetry are amazing, but I've never really got into it. My favourites tend to be straightforward, Robert Frost type, easy to understand; I've never been much good at parsing complicated metaphors and so on. However, I know that Allie brings a wonderful mix to her books, so I thought I'd give this one a try.

(Specific to this proof version; the formatting, as is common with proof books, wasn't great and made it hard to follow some of the poems. Some titles were missing so that poems ran into each other, and none of them had the day of the month printed by them. This won't be a factor in the finished book but it did affect my enjoyment as I was reading through.)

Obviously I couldn't keep this book for a year and read it as it's meant to be read, so I had to be content with reading through it over a few nights instead. There were some here I recognised, though I couldn't have named them - First Fig is in here, Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abby, Daffodils - all grouped into themes for each month. There are plenty more that I didn't know, and I enjoyed reading through and picking out some that I will enjoy coming back to.

I did notice that two seemed very similar - the Iroquios prayer and the great spirit prayer are almost word for word, and they're only separated by one day which makes it even more obvious. However, as this is a proof, it's very likely that one is a place holder for something else that will go in before publication.

I enjoyed this; it's definitely prompted me to look out for more poetry, and I'll come back to this and try and read the one each day that it's designed for. I'll see how I go anyway! I love that they're grouped into themes and I think they suit the months well.

I enjoyed this and I'll be looking to pick up a few more by Allie to expand my knowledge!

 

365 Poems for Life publishes on the 5th of October, 2023. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.