NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Galahad and the Grail, the debut volume in renowned British poet and priest Malcolm Guite’s highly anticipated new series, Merlin’s Isle: An Arthuriad, bows today from Rabbit Room Press, having already topped Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Religious Poetry,” “Best Sellers in Epic Poetry,” and “Best Sellers in British & Irish Poetry” charts.
Arriving to high praise from critics and fans alike, Galahad and the Grail tells of the legendary quest for the Holy Grail as reimagined through the eyes of the virtuous knight Galahad. Daniel Nayeri, author of The New York Times lauded title Everything Sad Is Untrue, calls Guite’s tale “…a magnum opus in the making,” while London’s The Times says, “…that his book exists is a glorious miracle all of its own,” and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams calls the work “vigorous and fresh…whets the appetite for much more.”
Celebrating the publication of Galahad and the Grail, multiple marquee events have been held around the U.S. this spring, including “An Evening with Malcolm Guite,” the book’s official Rabbit Room Press launch. Also featuring series illustrator Stephen Crotts and special musical guests The Gray Havens, Jeremy Casella, and Lydia Tabor, the March event took place in Nashville and drew attendees from across the country. In addition, last month The Trinity Forum and The Rabbit Room presented “Take Up The Tale: Bringing the Epic Tradition Into Our Time,” a special conversation with Guite at Washington, D.C.’s National Press Club.
The debut of four releases in Guite’s history-making epic cycle—the first multi-volume poetic retelling of Arthurian legend published in nearly two centuries—Galahad and the Grail honors the traditional ballad form while speaking with fresh vitality to modern readers. Hallmarked by Guite’s profound insights on courage, honor, and the spiritual journey, the story is further enhanced by more than 25 exclusive illustrations from award-winning South Carolina-based artist Stephen Crotts.
Galahad and the Grail’s immediate resonance fuels anticipation for The Coming of Arthur, the second volume in the Merlin’s Isle series. Releasing November 2 from Rabbit Room Press, preorders for The Coming of Arthur have landed the forthcoming title on multiple Amazon bestseller lists to date.
ABOUT MALCOLM GUITE
Malcolm Guite is a poet following the tradition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and George Herbert, a priest in the tradition of Lancelot Andrewes, and a scholar and literary critic in the tradition of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. A Girton College Fellow at Cambridge University, Guite lectures widely in the United Kingdom and North America on theology and literature and is the author of several works of nonfiction and poetry, including Sounding the Seasons: 70 Sonnets for the Christian Year (Canterbury Press), which is now in its 10th printing, as well as The Singing Bowl: Collected Poems (Canterbury Press 2013), Parable and Paradox (Canterbury Press 2016), Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Hodder 2017), After Prayer (Canterbury Press 2019), The Word Within the Words (DLT 2021) and Lifting the Veil (Square Halo 2021).
ABOUT THE RABBIT ROOM AND RABBIT ROOM PRESS
Conceived in 2007 as an experiment in creative community, The Rabbit Room put down roots in a 150-year-old farmhouse in Nashville, Tennessee. The community’s creative ventures now feature a podcast network, bookstore, Rabbit Room Press, and live events including the annual Hutchmoot conference.
Rabbit Room Press publishes works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that embody the mission of The Rabbit Room—cultivating stories that nourish Christ-centered communities for the life of the world. The boutique publishing house endeavors to create books that are beautiful both inside and out, titles not limited to any specific genre or market, but which adhere to a basic belief in the value of creative writing and storytelling.
For further information, visit merlinsisle.com, malcolm
