Bright Poems for Dark Days: An anthology for hope

An illustrated anthology of uplifting poetry

We all have days when we find ourselves in need of some positivity. In difficult times, the words of others can lift us up. Bright, joyful art to inspire hopefulness is combined with carefully curated poems, chosen to lift the spirits through the healing power of words. The book is divided into eight sections on the themes of hope, resilience & courage, joy, nature & escape, love, tranquillity, gratitude and comfort. Featuring a diverse range of writers from Oscar Wilde to Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson to Maya Angelou, William Blake to Warsan Shire, the selections are accompanied by explanations and illuminating context that reinforces the positive mental health message. Combining uplifting lines of verse and joyful illustrations, this unique book provides a much-needed dose of hopefulness and happiness in turbulent times, whether as a thoughtful gift for someone in need of solace or a resource that can be turned to whenever we need to. 

Featuring: Carol Ann Duffy • Percy Bysshe Shelley • Maya Angelou • Emily Dickinson • Kahlil Gibran • Claude McKay • Langston Hughes • William Wordsworth • Emanuel Carnevali • James Weldon Johnson • Anne Sexton • William Ernest Henley • Siegfried Sassoon • David Wright • Ella Wheeler Wilcox • John Greenleaf Whittier • Ada Limón • Denise Levertov • William Blake •  Edna St. Vincent Millay • Oscar Wilde • Rachel Field • John Gillespie Magee Jr. • Armand Garnet Ruffo • Robert Louis Stevenson • Ursula Bethell • John Donne • Paul Laurence Dunbar • Warsan Shire • Naomi Replansky • William Butler Yeats • Toru Dutt • William Cullen Bryant • E. Pauline Johnson • Lady Mary Wortley Montagu • Alfred, Lord Tennyson •  Raymond Carver • Katherine Mansfield • Issa • W.S. Merwin • John Tobias • Ross Gay • Sara Teasdale • Elizabeth Barrett Browning • William Shakespeare • Tim Bowling • Mary Oliver • Christina Rossetti

About the Author

Carolyn Gavin is a painter, illustrator and designer based in Toronto, Canada. Vibrant, playful and happy are perfect words to describe her style. She is principal designer for Ecojot, a family-run eco-friendly paper business and also licenses her work for fabric, homewares and packaging. Find her on IG @carolynj.Dr Julie Sutherland is a writer and editor based in New Brunswick, Canada. She is a bibliotherapist for the ReLit Foundation, facilitating and presenting a wide variety of reading for well-being events in Canada, the US, the UK and online. She is passionate about the capacity of literature to effect change in the human spirit.