• Starry Solitudes: A Collection of Inspiring and Thought-Provoking Poetry, edited by Dianne L. Durante
• 98 poems, plus an introduction with suggestions for other anthologies
• 198 pp., 56 illustrations in color and B&W
• Available March 2022 on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. Available at other stores via Ingram: print ISBN 978-1-0880-2437-9; ebook ISBN 978-1-0880-2882-7

This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/4uEf-I6yHDA.

Why another poetry anthology?

For almost five years, I’ve been sending out a Sunday email with brief recommendations of art that’s inspiring, thought-provoking, skillfully executed, and/or beautiful. Ayn Rand described art as emotional fuel. My goal—and my selfish pleasure!—is to help you find more of that fuel and use it more efficiently. How? By showing you wonderful art and provoking you to think about why you enjoy a particular piece … or don’t. The thousand or so artworks I’ve recommended include paintings, sculptures, novels, dramas, short stories, architecture, music, dance, film, decorative arts, and more than a hundred poems. (You can see my favorites here, and sign up for the Sunday recommendations here.)

Because of my particular goal in writing the Sunday Recommendations, this is an idiosyncratic collection—not one you’ll find in any other anthology. Since I’ve had very positive reactions to the poetry recommendations, I’m making ninety-eight of the poems easily available in Starry Solitudes.

The subjects and moods of the poems vary widely, depending on my context and mood when I select material for a particular week. On Valentine’s Day, I look for love poems. When the seasons change, I look for nature-related works. Undertaking a new major project makes me look for work-related poems … or poems about relaxation, depending on how the project is going. I’ve included a poem that I recited to my daughter for several years when she was young, and a poem I recite to myself when I need to be reminded that the results of the most recent election are not necessarily the end of the world. The poems are divided into sections based on such broad topics:

• Inspiration
• Art & Beauty
• Work & Leisure
• Courage & Perseverance
• Family
• Love, Loss, and Recovery
• Country
• Nature
• Travel
• Truth and Knowledge

Illustrations

The interaction of literature and visual arts enhances both. Some of the fifty-six illustrations in this volume come from the Sunday Recommendations. Some are from my study of art history, others from my years photographing New York City sculpture and architecture. A few are the result of free association on Google Images. Like the poems, the illustrations are idiosyncratic choices. They range from Peter Paul Rubens and N.C. Wyeth to Ignaz Gaugengigl and an 1815 cartoon of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Why “Starry Solitudes”?

Many people think of poetry only as one of their more boring high-school assignments. The title for this volume is meant to suggest that reading poetry can be an adventure and a delight. It’s from Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Land of Story-Books”.

There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter’s camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.

These are the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes;
And there the river by whose brink
The roaring lions come to drink.

Sample page spreads

More

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