A new collection of works from the renowned author Harper Lee is set to be released, and PEOPLE can exclusively reveal its cover. The collection, titled "The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays", will feature eight nonfiction works and eight short stories, offering a fascinating new perspective on the iconic literary mind.

The new collection, announced by HarperCollins Publishers earlier this year, will include both short stories and nonfiction pieces spanning decades. The short stories were written long before Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning magnum opus, To Kill a Mockingbird. The essays appeared in a range of publications between 1961 and 2006.

The Land of Sweet Forever marks the first time these works have been brought together. The resulting collection "offers a fascinating new perspective on an iconic and unique literary mind, one of America's most beloved authors," according to an official synopsis.

The collection will provide insight into Lee's take on topics like politics, equality, travel, love, fiction, art, the American South, and what it means to lead an engaged and creative life. For admirers of Lee's work, the forthcoming collection will "prove an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Lee's development as a writer," the synopsis states.

Harper Lee, born in Monroeville, rose to fame after publishing To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. The film adaptation, famously starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, hit the silver screen shortly after, in 1962. Lee was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird in 1961 and went on to earn numerous literary awards and honors over the years, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.

The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays is set to be released on October 21 and is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.

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