Her New Book Is All About Art and Creativity

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert will release her latest novel Big Magic in September, amid major advance buzz for the blockbuster-creating author. Etsy (yes, Etsy!) has the official cover reveal of Gilbert's Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear and it is a pitch-perfect fit for the book's themes and subject matter. The new novel will tackle one of Gilbert's favorite talking points: bringing joy to your creativity, and bringing creativity into the lives of even non-artists. And now it should be clear why Etsy was the most amazing place to showcase first look of the cover.

Gilbert describes to Etsy her vision of inspiration and creativity that will serve as the basis of Big Magic:

I’ve always embraced magical thinking when it comes to creativity. I see inspiration as a mysterious external force that comes to us from unknown realms, in order to collaborate with our imaginations. This is how humans saw the artistic process for thousands of years, and it still works for me! I certainly like this fanciful approach to creativity better than the modern notion of the tormented artist, suffering alone in anguish and martyrdom. My book is an effort to lure people back into the “Big Magic” — into a more celebratory and mystical way of being a maker.

Looks like this is going to be a huge one for anyone looking to pursue creative endeavors. But seriously, the cover, you guys:

Color! I'm already inspired. And so are many of her fans on Twitter, as well as artists who can enter into Gilbert's backlist via this new book.

Gilbert is no stranger to the topic of magical thinking and creativity. First of all, she's used it in her own writing experience. Second of all, Gilbert has spoken on these themes twice before for TEDTalks, which have logged more than 11 million views. And despite some critiques against the author, she does not believe you have to take a worldwide journey (*cough* Eat, Pray, Love) to capture that creativity:

Creativity does not belong exclusively to professional artists and geniuses; it is the birthright of every single human being. Creativity is our common heritage. You don’t need to quit your job and move to Paris in order to lay claim to this heritage — all you have to do is clear some space in your life for whimsy, invention, sensory pleasure, and play. Most of all, you have to learn how to follow your curiosity more than your fear.

Come on now, we should all be making room in our lives for whimsy. But we'll have to wait until September to learn just how to do that.