The world has erupted in a groundswell of protests in the last few decades: against authoritarian rule, the stranglehold of global capitalism and rising injustice. Some of these have led to regime or policy change, others to war and mass displacement. Protesters have turned time and again to poetry for it is words alone that can spread the spirit of resistance and offer release from the grip of tyranny.

This specially curated volume brings together some of the best known poetry to have been written against different kinds of oppression from around the globe. Featuring voices as diverse as Anna Akhmatova from the erstwhile USSR to Rabindranath Tagore in India, Pablo Neruda in Chile to Mahmoud Darwish in Palestine, Maya Angelou in the US to Bei Dao in China, Poetry of Protest celebrates the innate tenacity of human beings to defend freedom, equality and dignity.