Liberation

An exploration of freedom by some of the world’s most celebrated poets, published for the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camps

The year 2015 marks the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the conclusion of the Second World War. But around the world, oppressed and imprisoned people are still longing for freedom and asking, “What does it mean to be free?” This collection of poems explores that question.

In honor of the anniversary, some of the world’s top contemporary voices—including Rita Dove, Robert Pinsky, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Richard Blanco—have written never-before-published poems on the theme of liberation as it inspires them personally and creatively.  The result is an artistic representation of the universal yearning for freedom spanning eighty-two poems, twenty-five countries, and countless stories of oppression, imprisonment, and liberation. This collection demonstrates the power of art to heal and to bring attention to freedom as a universal human right.