{"product_id":"how-to-begin","title":"Edmund de Waal: How to Begin [2026]","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Enchanting, illuminating and tender'\u003c\/i\u003e - Nigel Slater\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'I believe you can live in a book of poems'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA book about finding a creative voice and becoming an artist via a startling rediscovery in Edmund de Waal's family archives - letters between his grandmother and the charismatic poet Rainer Maria Rilke\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e** \u003ci\u003eWith letters translated from the German by prizewinning translator, Karen Leeder \u003c\/i\u003e**\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a story about how to begin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1921, Elisabeth Ephrussi writes a letter to the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke. She too is a poet, or an aspiring one - a young law student in Vienna just beginning her creative life. To her surprise, Rilke writes back with advice. A five-year correspondence follows, an exchange of lyrical and exhortatory letters alongside books, translations, poems in manuscript. They never meet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFifty years later, Elisabeth's grandson, Edmund de Waal, wants to be a poet and a potter. He sends her his own poetry, and she responds with guidance and Rilke's \u003ci\u003eDuino Elegies\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow to Begin\u003c\/i\u003e follows Edmund's journey as an artist. This is a book about failure, about starting again, about apprenticeship and asking for and then disregarding advice, about working out ways to keep going when you don't know how.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a moving, intergenerational story about the traces of memory within a family, and a deeply personal reflection on how we learn resilience with the support of others. It is for any reader starting out, seeking the permission to begin.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"De Waal, Edmund","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":55329808810323,"sku":"9781784746704","price":23.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/de-waal-edmund-edmund-de-waal-how-to-begin-2026-9781784746704-1262371332.jpg?v=1791834371","url":"https:\/\/chaptersbookstore.pro\/products\/how-to-begin","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}