A Year with Rilke

Rainer Maria Rilke is one of the most beloved poets of the twentieth century. He has influenced generations of writers with his classic Letters to a Young Poet, and his reflections on the divine and our place in the universe are strikingly profound.


Now readers can enjoy a daily selection of Rilke’s work, in an entirely new translation by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy. A Year with Rilke includes selections from his poetry, prose, and intimate letters and journals. Amidst the bustle of daily life, Rilke can provide a welcome refuge as he reflects on such themes as impermanence, the beauty of creation, the voice of God, and the importance of solitude.

Anita Barrows, a prize-winning poet and clinical psychologist, is the author of four books of poetry. She has received an NEA grant as well as the Quarterly Review of Literature’s Contemporary Poetry Award. She has been a professional translator for more than thirty years.

Joanna Macy, whose books include World as Lover, World as Self, is a scholar of systems theory and Buddhist thought. With Anita Barrows, she is translator of Rilke’s Book of Hours.