A FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD

In the tradition of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha comes a new spiritual novel that is a stunning feat of storytelling and imagination.

A Poet of the Invisible World follows Nouri, a boy born in thirteenth-century Persia with four ears instead of two. Orphaned as an infant, he’s taken into a Sufi order, where he meets an assortment of dervishes and embarks on a path toward spiritual awakening.

Along the way, Nouri will find himself in the sumptuous court of a sultan, a barren farm in the hills of Spain, a bustling city on the north coast of Africa, and a monastery perched high in the mountains. He will fall in love—and encounter
an adversary who will try to destroy that love.

As Nouri stumbles from one experience to the next, he grows into manhood. Each trial he endures will shatter another obstacle within—and lead him toward transcendence.

Michael Golding’s previous work has been described as “brilliant” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) and “so lavish and so colorful, it’s like a meal in the open air, laid out on brocade” (Los Angeles Times). With this new novel, seven years in the writing, he has created a gripping tale that deals with many of life’s deepest questions. A Poet of the Invisible World will astonish readers as it awakens them to the poetry inside themselves.

Michael Golding was born in Philadelphia and educated at Duke, Oxford, and the University of California at Irvine, where he received the Gellman Founder's Award. He began his career as an actor, appearing in numerous Off-Broadway shows.

His first novel, Simple Prayers, was published in 1994. It has been translated into nine foreign languages and a film adaptation is in development. Benjamin's Gift, his second novel, was published in 2000.

Michael's translation of Alessandro Baricco's stage play Novecento opened the 2002 Edinburgh Festival and his screenplay adaptation of the best-selling novel Silk was released in 2007. Directed by Francois Girard and starring Keira Knightley and Alfred Molina, it was a featured selection at the Toronto Film Festival.

Michael has lived in New York, Paris, Venice, London, Amsterdam, and Moscow and resides in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas in Northern California. He teaches writing and literature at Yuba College. His third novel is A Poet of the Invisible World.