Miniature books, eighteenth-century novels, Tom Thumb weddings, tall tales, and objects of tourism and nostalgia: this diverse group of cultural forms is the subject of On Longing, a fascinating analysis of the ways in which everyday objects are narrated to animate or realize certain versions of the world. Originally published in 1984 (Johns Hopkins University Press), and now available in paperback for the first time, this highly original book draws on insights from semiotics and ...

Throughout history, women (and men) have applied make-up to enhance, alter, conceal and even to disguise their appearance. Also, to a greater or lesser degree over time, cosmetics have been used as a visible marker of social status, gender, wealth and well-being. A closer look at the world of make-up gives us not only a mirror reflecting day-to-day life in the past, but also an indicator of the culture and politics of earlier periods in history. Susan Stewart guides the reader through the ...

How have ruins become so valued in Western culture and so central to our art and literature? Covering a vast chronological and geographical range, from ancient Egyptian inscriptions to twentieth-century memorials, Susan Stewart seeks to answer this question as she traces the appeal of ruins and ruins images, and the lessons that writers and artists have drawn from their haunting forms.Stewart takes us on a sweeping journey through founding legends of broken covenants and original si...

“One of the finest poets of the last fifty years.” —Saltto the Nth, like the truth of an endingunskeined across the crust of the white field.Though it happened only once, Iam sending the thoughtof the thoughtcontinuing.To return tothe field before the mowing.When a goldfinch swayedon a blue stem stalk,and the wind and the sunstirred the hay.—from “After t...

A finalist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry, this seventh collection by acclaimed poet Susan Stewart offers a meditation on difficulty and the powers of nature.In the biblical book of Judges, the bramble is a figure of destructive leadership, thwarting the lives of trees. In ballads and fairy tales, roses grow “‘round the briar” in tragic contrast to heroines who are enveloped by the thorns. One of the oldest English words and an even older symbol, “bram...

Pleasant smells have long been associated not only with health, wealth and good hygiene but also sound moral character; bad smells indicate lack of cleanliness, ill health, poverty ‒ and immorality. Throughout history, people have applied scents to their bodies and clothing. They have carried perfumed objects, worn scented jewellery, sent scented letters, even exchanged scented coins. Aromas have been used to perfume private houses and public spaces from the ancient world to today. Gaining...

Why do we need new art? How free is the artist in making? And why is the artist, and particularly the poet, a figure of freedom in Western culture? The MacArthur Award–winning poet and critic Susan Stewart ponders these questions in The Poet's Freedom. Through a series of evocative essays, she not only argues that freedom is necessary to making and is itself something made, but also shows how artists give rules to their practices and model a self-determination that might serve in ...

Susan Stewart is an Olympic athlete who represented Canada in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as a member of the women's basketball team. She also represented Canada as a player at the FIBA World Championship, the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying tournament, the Pan American Games and the FISU World Student Games. Sue has enjoyed a vibrant career, teaching and coaching basketball teams throughout Canada and the United States. She has also accumulated a long list of accomplishments, including a Mast...

As hairdressers we can afford to forget the real us. No matter how we are feeling we tend to put on a show for our clients. A good friend once said, There are two Sues Sue, my friend, and Sue, my hairdresser!Have You Had Lunch? aims to guide you through a realistic career in everyday Hairdressing. It will give you an insight as to what life as a Saturday girl/boy, apprentice and stylist is all about.Throughout this demanding yet very rewarding career, you may bathe...

How is poetry a living art? This is the question at the heart of Poetry's Nature. Although it is common to speak of "nature poetry," Stewart contends that the essential nature of poetry is bound up with the natural world: by looking to nature, we can better understand poetry and, in turn, our own situation within nature. The study draws on contemporary physics and philosophy to argue that all beings, and all matter, are enmeshed in relations to one another, and that such processur...

From a sequence, "The Countries Surrounding the Garden of Eden":Gihon, that compasseth the whole landAt the first frost we found our sheep with strangled hearts, lying on their backs in the frozen clover, their eyes wide open as if they were surprised by a constellation of drought or endless winter. The wolves walked into the snow, like men who have given up living without love; cows would no longer let go of their calves, hiding them deep in the birch groves. Everywhere th...

This book reviews the interplay between domestic contexts and democracy promotion efforts in selected countries of the former Soviet Union and the Western Balkans. The idea behind the six case studies is twofold. In the three cases where ‘colour revolutions’ occurred (Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine), the authors explore the extent to which external democracy promoters adapted their strategies to respond to new domestic contexts. In the other three cases (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia) the authors ...