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      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        April 2010

        The life of Una Marson, 1905–65

        by Delia Jarrett-Macauley

        This is an original, full length biography of Britain's first twentieth-century black feminist - Una Marson - poet, playwright, and social activist and BBC broadcaster. Una Marson is recognised today as the first major woman poet of the Caribbean and as a significant forerunner of contemporary black writers; her story throws light on the problems facing politicised black artists. In challenging definitions of 'race' and 'gender' in her political and creative work, she forged a valiant path for later black feminists. Her enormous social and cultural contributions to the Caribbean and Britain have, until now, remained hidden in archives and memoirs around the world. Based on extensive research and oral testimony, this biography embraces postcolonial realities and promise, and is a major contribution to British cultural history. ;

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        AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A ZEN MONK

        by Taisen Deshimaru

        A story of bravery and false starts, Autobiography of a Zen Monk candidly recounts the author’s development from a highly mischievous Japanese boy into a world-renowned Sensei (Teacher) of Zen. While countless memoirs exist written by Zen students and teachers, few are as engaging and as tantalizing as Taisen Deshimaru’s. Looking back at his early life, growing up in Japan, from the viewpoint of his status as a Zen teacher in Paris, the author reflects on his earliest misadventures—from defacing a valuable painting of Bodhidharma as a child, to turning the “Zen stick” on a young monk during a retreat. Adventures abound with stories about alcohol and women, during his student years, and his activities during World War II in working for the arms industry in Malaysia, where he was sympathetic to the underground freedom movement. This first English-language translation of Taisen Deshimaru’s autobiography will be prized for its clear and honest documentation of this great master’s life. Many people all over the world have been influenced by Deshimaru’s Zen teachings, especially his book on Zen and the martial arts. This memoir fills an important gap in our knowledge of his teacher, Kodo Sawaki’s influence on the world of Zen. The story of how Deshimaru met Sawaki as a boy, even slept in the same room with him, and later received monastic ordination is the story of a lifelong friendship of two extraordinary characters in the history of modern Zen. Deshimaru’s influence extends beyond Zen practitioners, though, especially in those interested in the martial arts, as he touches on his martial arts experience as a young man and offers a look into the master’s early training. Additional interest extends to historians who recount the supposed “scandals” of Zen masters’ participation in the war effort. Although Deshimaru’s viewpoint is decidedly subjective, he was intimately acquainted with priests and generals alike, and approaches the difficult subject with a refreshing lack of judgmental disdain which counterbalances many other more lopsided works. Translator, Richard Collins, a longtime Zen practitioner, and currently the Abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple, is a literature scholar and author of several books including No Fear Zen, Hohm Press, 2014. His knowledge of the subject matter and his finesse with language combine to make this book a delightful read for those who appreciate wellwritten memoir.

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        Biography & True Stories
        March 2022

        Body Work

        The Radical Power of Personal Narrative

        by Melissa Febos,

        In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and writing guide, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller's life and the challenges it presents. How do we write about the relationships that have formed us? How do we describe our bodies, their desires and traumas? What does it mean to have your writing, or living, dismissed as "navel-gazing"-or else hailed as "so brave, so raw"? And to whom, in the end, do our most intimate stories belong? Drawing on her journey from aspiring writer to acclaimed author and writing professor-via addiction and recovery, sex work and academia-Melissa Febos has created a captivating guide to the writing life, and a brilliantly unusual exploration of subjectivity, privacy, and the power of divulgence. Candid and inspiring, Body Work will empower readers and writers alike, offering ideas-and occasional notes of caution-to anyone who has ever hoped to see their true self reflecting back from the open page.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        March 2022

        Body Work

        The Radical Power of Personal Narrative

        by Melissa Febos,

        In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and writing guide, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller's life and the challenges it presents. How do we write about the relationships that have formed us? How do we describe our bodies, their desires and traumas? What does it mean to have your writing, or living, dismissed as "navel-gazing"-or else hailed as "so brave, so raw"? And to whom, in the end, do our most intimate stories belong? Drawing on her journey from aspiring writer to acclaimed author and writing professor-via addiction and recovery, sex work and academia-Melissa Febos has created a captivating guide to the writing life, and a brilliantly unusual exploration of subjectivity, privacy, and the power of divulgence. Candid and inspiring, Body Work will empower readers and writers alike, offering ideas-and occasional notes of caution-to anyone who has ever hoped to see their true self reflecting back from the open page.

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        March 2022

        Body Work

        The Radical Power of Personal Narrative

        by Melissa Febos,

        In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and writing guide, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller's life and the challenges it presents. How do we write about the relationships that have formed us? How do we describe our bodies, their desires and traumas? What does it mean to have your writing, or living, dismissed as "navel-gazing"-or else hailed as "so brave, so raw"? And to whom, in the end, do our most intimate stories belong? Drawing on her journey from aspiring writer to acclaimed author and writing professor-via addiction and recovery, sex work and academia-Melissa Febos has created a captivating guide to the writing life, and a brilliantly unusual exploration of subjectivity, privacy, and the power of divulgence. Candid and inspiring, Body Work will empower readers and writers alike, offering ideas-and occasional notes of caution-to anyone who has ever hoped to see their true self reflecting back from the open page.

      • Trusted Partner
        Prose: non-fiction
        2021

        WHY THE FRENCH ARE NOT GETTING FAT

        by Andrii Aliokhin

        Hello, I am Andrii Aliokhin. I have been an actor and a writer for many years living in two capitals: Kyiv and Paris. I was neither a tourist nor an immigrant. This allowed me to see our life and French life from a unique point of view. This book tells a story about what I had learned in France. Not from professional chefs or subtle connoisseurs of culinary delights, but from ordinary French men and women, who cook and eat in France. Real people who love, work, grieve, celebrate, raise children, walk dogs, and go to market in the course of their daily lives. So, you will find here my little stories about the French – memoirs and other nonsense, that actually is called life. In some way it is also a cookbook. Everything collected here are ordinary, simple, French recipes. All ingredients can be easily found on the shelvesof our stores. But this is not just a book about the kitchen. It’s about what I finally realized. I realized why the French are not getting fat. The book by Andre Aliokhin – the most famous and popular Ukrainian blogger. It’s bestseller in Ukraine. The German translation will be published soon.

      • Trusted Partner
        Art forms
        2022

        T. Shevchenko. Life in art

        by Dmytro Stus, Tetyana Chuiko, Anastasia Morozova, Yulia Shilenko

        Of course, the fate of the artist was formed in a certain way because he realized his vocation - to be a poet. On the other hand, he lived his life as a professional artist. After graduating from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, T. Shevchenko worked as an artist in the Temporary Commission for the consideration of ancient acts (Kyiv Archaeographic Commission), applied for the position of drawing teacher at the University of St. Volodymyr in Kyiv. And when his plans were broken by arrest, then in exile, despite the strict imperial ban on writing and drawing, the artist was able to work in his specialty, although not officially. Shevchenko devoted the last years of his life to the development of etching, having received the title of academician in engraving. The publication consists of two parts. The first is devoted to the works of the artist, made in graphic techniques, as well as sepia and watercolor. Given the fact that there are few oil paintings in the artist's works, we singled them out in the second part, trying to break stereotypes about their perception. Each section of the first part is devoted to a separate genre, which was addressed by T. Shevchenko. The largest of the sections are divided into thematic headings, which allows you to see the works of the artist from a new, perhaps unexpected, angle. In turn, the commentary to each work contains a brief history of creation (places, circumstances, relationships, etc.) and artistic characteristics that reveal the performing skills of the author. In addition, an important addition is the part of the commentary "Interesting" and quotes from the novels, Diary, correspondence of the artist, memoirs of his contemporaries. You can start your acquaintance with the publication from any section or even heading. Traveling through Shevchenko's paintings on separate routes you will have a complete rich journey through the original world of the artist.

      • Trusted Partner
        December 2014

        Living above Life

        by Yan Zhen

        This novel presents the image of some contemporary Chinese intellectuals represented by Nie Zhiyuan who, instead of being pushed around by convention, tries to live beyond mediocrity and to pursue truth. Rather than being worldly or sophisticated, these people are serious about everything and hold on to the moral bottom-line of intellectuals by distancing themselves from the stink of money. They have independent intellectual personality with the determination to model after such great historical figures as Cao Xueqin. They broaden their academic perspective, construct their own framework of learning, and try their best to find the value and meaning of living above life. Of course, this novel also depicts the corruption of knowledge brought on by connections and circles, the distortion of personality brought on by money and power … and the perplexity, struggle, compromise and adherence of people with lofty ideals like Nie Zhiyuan.

      • Trusted Partner

        Celebration of Life: Secrets of Evolution

        by Miao Desui

        What is life? Different people have different views. In the book Celebration of Life: Secrets of Evolution, Professor Miao Desui presents to readers epic and magnificent scenes of life evolution using rigorous, lucid, and poetic language. The book contains topics and contents including the origin of life, biological inheritance and variation, evidence of biological evolution, adaptability to the environment of living things, and other hot spots like genes, bacteria, and viruses. It not only reveals the true connotation of life, but also could make people marvel at the magnificence of the world.

      • Trusted Partner
        April 2021

        On the Purposes of Life and Whether They Exist

        A philosophical fitting

        by Axel Braig

        The musician, doctor and philosopher Axel Braig considers philosophy a little like the weather: he looks for the right clothes for every situation. Braig is primarily concerned with practical, effective things from the two-and-a-half millennia fund of (Western) thinking, such as helpful approaches in existential crises. In this book, he introduces us to philosophical thinkers from Plato to Montaigne to Levinas and Feyerabend. Braig not only shares his own philosophical biography, but above all encourages us to philosophise ourselves.

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        July 2018

        Life Show

        by Chi Li

        This is a short story collection written by one of the best female Chinese writers Chi Li, who chooses five of her representative stories that happens in Wuhan city. The author is famous for her description of ordinary Chinese citizens from female perspective. Her works have been favored by many readers in and out of China.

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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        2017

        Survival as Victory: Ukrainian Women in the Gulag

        by Oksana Kis

        Of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian women were sentenced to the Gulag in the 1940s and 1950s, only half survived. In Survival as Victory, Oksana Kis has produced the first anthropological study of daily life in the Soviet forced labor camps as experienced by Ukrainian women prisoners. Based on the written memoirs, autobiographies, and oral histories of over 150 survivors, this book fills a lacuna in the scholarship regarding Ukrainian experience. Kis details the women’s resistance to the brutality of camp conditions not only through the preservation of customs and traditions from everyday home life, but also through the frequent elision of regional and confessional differences. Following the groundbreaking work of Anne Applebaum’s Gulag: A History (2003), this book is a must-read for anyone interested in gendered strategies of survival, accommodation, and resistance to the dehumanizing effects of the Gulag.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        May 2018

        The Poetic Biography of Li Shangyin

        by Zhang Shiqun

      • Trusted Partner
        November 2016

        Coming to Terms with Life

        by Matthias Wengenroth

        Do you struggle with thoughts and feelings that make life difficult? Have you tried all sorts of ways of dealing with this without getting anywhere? Do you feel that life is passing you by? Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which this book describes in a clear and entertaining way, provides new and very enlightening insights into the causes of human suffering. At the same time, ACT shows how we can improve the way we handle the difficult aspects of being human, while also developing our abilities and strengths. This title shows how using the described simple but effective methods can lead you to a happier, better life.   Target Group: people who want to utilize their potential more fully, people interested in acceptance and commitment therapy, people practicing or interested in psychotherapy (psychologists, doctors, coaches, social workers)

      • Trusted Partner
        Biography & True Stories
        June 2014

        A Biography of Paul Watzlawick

        The Discovery of the Present Moment

        by Andrea Köhler-Ludescher

        This book, the world's first biography of Paul Watzlawick, written by his great-niece, describes the life of this philosopher, therapist, and best-selling author. Paul Watzlawick had a talent for languages and he led an adventurous life, from his childhood in Villach to studying in Venice after the war, to analyst training under C. G. Jung in Zurich, an attempt at establishing himself in India and then in El Salvador as a therapist, and finally to the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in the United States, headed by Don D. Jackson, a venerable scientist. This marked the beginning of the second half of his life, his amazing career as a communication researcher, a pioneer of systemic therapy, a radical constructivist, and a great thinker regarding the divisions between East and West. With many letters, lectures, interviews, and statements from contemporary witnesses and family members, this book makes Paul Watzlawick accessible as a human being and as a spiritually inspired, leading 20th century thinker. It includes a variety of unpublished material from Watzlawick, and introduces a comprehensive and exciting picture of the scientist and cosmopolitan person, Paul Watzlawick.   Target Group: For people interest in Paul Watzlawick, communication sciences, systemic therapy, and constructivism.

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        February 2019

        Cangyang Gyatso meets Nalan Rongruo

        by Suiyuansanren

        This book is a collection of poems and biographies of Cangyang Gyatso and Nalan Rongruo. It is divided into eight volumes, from the birth and family background of the two, childhood and first love, Cangyang Gyatso left his hometown to the Potala Palace, Nalan Rongruo took the imperial examination, and when he reached adulthood, he again met the deeply loved woman, The persecution and restraint on the officialdom, farewell to the life and death of a lover, and finally the demise of the young life, combined with the poems written by the two at different stages of life. For the first time, this book brings together the poetry and biographies of Cangyang Jiacuo and Nalan Rongruo. It has a unique perspective and rich content.

      • Trusted Partner
        June 2021

        Dream under the Harvest: A Biography of Yuan Longping

        by Deng Xiangzi, Xie Changjiang

        The life of Yuan Longping, who got “The Order of the Republic” medal, is legendary and innovative. Since the early 1960s, he has been working tirelessly to turn his enthusiasm for his country into rice cultivation, and has always been at the forefront of hybrid rice research. His heart for hybrid rice research and the national food security has remained unchanged from the past to the present. This book uses vivid language and various photos to restore Yuan Longping's life, so that young people can feel the charisma of a researcher. It will help young people understand Yuan Longping's growth experience, feel the charm of the researcher's personality, learn his valuable qualities of perseverance, dedication to science and continuous innovation, and open up their profound understanding of personal ideals and national justice, stimulate their patriotic enthusiasm, and guide them to make their contribution to the development of science and technology through their own efforts.

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