The Poem and the Journey

Ruth Padel is Virgil in the 'Inferno' of poetry. She guides the reader gently and deftly on the journey... This is much more than a book about poetry, this is a handbook for living!

Fiona Shaw

Brilliant... Padel draws on a huge range of references to make a powerful case for poetry as a living art form

Independent

As a writer you would probably choose Ruth Padel as your ideal reader. Her eye misses very little of the nudging and winking that goes on in a poem, and she seems able to tune into the silent music of text on the page...she finds more than most to engage with and enjoy

Simon Armitage

An enlivening, illuminating book, lucid, accessible and probing

The Times

This vivid and illuminating book opens many pathways for the reader of contemporary poetry, bringing to bear not only current thinking but the whole world of the past, particularly the past of Greek experience

Gillian Beer

The ideal guide for the apprehensive reader of contemporary poetry... Her beguilingly informal style entertains and informs along the way. It is one of the book's great strengths that she is never lofty, nor condescending, nor a show off

Irish Times