Henry Power for Homer-Haunted

We're delighted to welcome Henry Power to the bookshop to celebrate the release of his new book, Homer-Haunted.

“This is such a brilliantly told story of Homer-obsessives through the ages that, by the end, you’re as hooked on Homer as they were.” FRANK SKINNER

A dazzlingly original and deeply personal testament to the power of poetry, Homer-Haunted is an epic account of how our oldest stories continue to shape the way we read, write and think.

The siege of Troy and Odysseus’ long voyage home have shaped storytelling for thousands of years. In Homer-Haunted, Henry Power takes us on a surprising journey through the afterlives of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the search for the poet who created them.

Today, Homer’s stories and heroes are known to millions who have never read the poems themselves, and with Christopher Nolan’s epic adaptation of The Odyssey set to release in cinemas this July, the conversation around Homer’s influence has never been timelier. Homer-Haunted offers an accessible guide to the plots characters, and poetry of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and a vital starting point for readers who want to know more – explaining where these poems came from and how, against all the odds, they have reached us.

HENRY POWER studied Classics and English at Oxford and then took his PhD at Cambridge. He is now Professor of English Literature at the University of Exeter. He has published widely on both ancient and modern literature and is also a regular contributor to publications such as the Times Literary Supplement, Evening Standard and Literary Review. He has also appeared as a guest on In Our Time on BBC Radio 4.