“Ani DiFranco has spent decades challenging the status quo, standing up
for what she believes and creating honest, raw music.” - Associated Press
New York, NY - Today, prolific singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco announces her
upcoming book, The Spirit of Ani, with coauthor Lauren Coyle Rosen, out March 3rd on
Akashic Books. The Spirit of Ani is a captivating journey of intimate reflections with
DiFranco, a pathbreaking, highly original artist of our time. In this powerful collaborative
work, the legendary musician/feminist/activist is in conversation with cultural
anthropologist Lauren Coyle Rosen. In these exchanges, Ani is remarkably open about
her creativity, spirituality, personal experiences, and evolving consciousness. She is
vulnerable and unapologetic, offering an unprecedented window into her fiercely prolific
journeys.
Preorder The Spirit of Ani HERE.
A limited number of preorders will include an autographed copy of the book and a signed Giclée print of Ani’s painting “Spirit Becomes Flesh,” which is reproduced here for the first time.
About The Spirt of Ani, DiFranco shares, “Lauren wanted to talk about my creative process and, more specifically, about its spiritual dimension - and so we did. I hope this book with be of some use to other seekers on the paths of feminism, spirituality
and creativity.”
Expanding on themes from her best-selling memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream,
Ani also offers fascinating reflections on contemporary popular culture—ranging from
gender and queer politics, to the music industry in the virtual age, to climate change.
The book includes previously unpublished photographs and journal entries, song-birth
sheets, paintings, and the lyrics for some of her most treasured songs. The coauthors
explore how Ani’s music and art are profoundly tied to her experiences of the interconnectedness of all consciousness and tuning in to receive creative inspiration. Ani’s striking openness produces a book that is both meditative and activating. This is a must-read for anyone intrigued by the dedication, intuition, and vision that drive Ani’s lifelong journey of creating art that not only reflects, but also empowers, transforms, and heals.
Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the
DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label, Righteous
Babe Records, in 1990. She has released 23 albums, traversing folk, punk, hip-hop,
soul and electronic genres and addressing a range of autobiographical, political and
social issues. DiFranco is also a poet, author and Broadway performer. She released a
collection of poems and paintings titled Verses in 2007. Her memoir No Walls and the
Recurring Dream was a New York Times Top 10 best seller in 2019, and her children’s
books The Knowing and Show Up and Vote are out now. In 2024, DiFranco completed a
5-month run on Broadway as ‘Persephone’ in Hadestown.
Lauren Coyle Rosen is an award-winning author, artist, singer-songwriter, and cultural
anthropologist. Her nonfiction books include Hannibal Lokumbe (coauthored with
Hannibal Lokumbe), Law in Light, and Fires of Gold. She founded and writes for the
Spiritual Muses and is a fellow at Harvard University. She was formerly a cultural
anthropology professor at Princeton University, where she received the President’s
Award in Distinguished Teaching, among other honors. Coyle Rosen has also
published eight volumes of poetry and art. She is currently at work on her next
nonfiction book, Goddess: A History. In 2025, she released her first four music albums,
including, most recently, Athena Visions.