Poetic Formats in Contemporary Poetry: A How-To Guide: Texts/ Anthologies

An anthology celebrating the diverse traditions of poetic form as they influence the work of poets today. Editor and poet Annie Finch presents a wide-reaching collection of sixty contemporary women poets working with traditional poetic formats and structures. Poetic form is treated as the literary inheritance of poets in the new millennium.

An introduction to contemporary poetics, this collection represents one of the first attempts to chart the progress of a new generation of poets. Each chapter focuses on one poet, and includes a selection of poems, a brief statement of purpose by the poet, and a critical essay by a notable scholar. The thirteen notable poets presented here work in forms ranging from the post-confessional lyric to documentary poetics, from the prose poem and the sonnet to sound poetry. American Poets in the 21st Century will serve as a useful guide for any reader interested in how new American poetry can look, feel, and sound. Poets include: Joshua Clover, Stacy Doris, Peter Gizzi, Kenneth Goldsmith, Myung Mi Kim, Mark Levine, Tracie Morris, Mark Nowak, D.A. Powell, Juliana Spahr, Karen Volkman, Susan Wheeler, and Kevin Young.

This text collects one hundred sonnets of the English language, as well as a few additional sonnets in translation. The works included have been chosen to highlight the history of the sonnet. Each poem is accompanied by short commentaries analyzing the work.

A cross-section of American poetry scene as it is right now. Please Excuse This Poem features one hundred highly acclaimed younger poets from diverse backgrounds and points of view, tackling a range of subjects in a range of poetic forms. Subjects range from dealing with the aftermath of war, to unpacking the meaning of "the rape joke"; to sharing the tender moments at the start of a love affair, and many more. Editors Brett Fletcher Lauer and Lynn Melnick have crafted a book that looks at the future of poetry. With an introduction from award-winning poet, editor, and translator Carolyn Forche.

On April 20, 2010, nine Latino students chained themselves to the main doors of the Arizona State Capitol in an act of civil disobedience to protest Arizona's SB 1070. Moved by the students' actions, that same day Francisco X. Alarcón responded by writing a poem in Spanish and English titled "Para Los Nueve del Capitolio/ For the Capitol Nine," which he dedicated to the students. The students replied to the poem with a collective online message. Alarcón then created a Facebook page called "Poets Responding to SB 1070" and posted the poem, launching a powerful forum for social justice. Since then, more than three thousand original contributions by poets and artists from around the globe have been posted to the page. Poetry of Resistance presents a selection of these works, addressing a wide variety of themes, including racial profiling, xenophobia, cultural misunderstanding, violence against refugees, shared identity, and many more. Contributors include poets such as Francisco Aragón, Devreaux Baker, Sarah Browning, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Susan Deer Cloud, Sharon Dubiago, Martín Espada, Genny Lim, Pam Uschuk, and Alma Luz Villanueva. The anthology highlights more than eighty writers who explore themes such as tolerance, reflection, reconciliation, healing, the need for change, and the primacy of basic human rights.

A highly useful text for students as well as teachers of poetry. June Jordan's vision and politics have set her at the forefront of contemporary poetry and her work has a far-reaching impact on all poets and readers of poetry today. A dedicated teacher, she developed the innovative and highly successful poetry program, Poetry for the People, explored in detail in this text.

The first of its kind, Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics, gathers together a diverse range of fifty-five poets with varying aesthetics and backgrounds. In addition to generous samples of poetry by each trans writer, the book also includes "poetics statements"--reflections by each poet that provide context for their work covering a range of issues from identification and embodiment to language and activism. Poets include Samuel Ace, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Micha Cardenas, kari edwards, Duriel Harris, Joy Ladin, Dawn Lundy Martin, Eileen Myles, Trish Salah, Max Wolf Valerio, John Wieners, Kit Yan, and more.