Postmodern American Poetry 2nd Edition
My anthology Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology, 2nd edition, to be officially published in March (books in the warehouse in late January for those ordering for the classroom) just received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, see the link below. In the meantime, here's the text of the review:
Hoover, a highly regarded West Coast poet and deep practitioner of the poetics that are the focus of this book, has greatly expanded this important anthology for its second edition. First coined by the poet Charles Olson in 1951, the term “postmodern” is defined by Hoover in his introduction as “an experimental approach to composition, as well as a worldview that sets itself apart from mainstream culture and the sentimentality and self-expressiveness of its life in writing.” That definition suggests both academic and theoretical nature of much of the poetry contained herein, as well as the many unusual formal devices often employed. But the range here is stunning, from Olson’s panoramic histories to Frank O’Hara’s chatty cityscapes to Lyn Hejinian’s bottomless autobiography. What makes this edition so welcome, for both classroom and personal use, is its inclusion of many newer poets whose careers hadn’t yet begun when the first edition was published. Now we have K. Silem Mohammad’s Internet-infused lines, Claudia Rankine’s moral collages, Christian Bok’s vowel experiments, and more, including very new writers like Ben Lerner. There’s plenty of everything—especially strong emotion—if one knows where to look. This will be an essential book for students and serious fans of poetry. (Mar.)
Reviewed on: 12/24/2012
Labels: contemporary poetry, postmodernism, publisher's weekly
5 Comments:
Dear Paul,
What is the considered the best PSA Chapbook year? For example, I noticed that 2010 was sold out, whereas there are still quite a few available for 2011, and for other years as well. Could you kindly advise?
Jane
I can't answer that question, as I haven't kept up with the production of PSA chapbooks. Do you mean Poetry Society of America? Check their site online and perhaps there will be information.
Congratulations on the anthology.
I can't answer that question, as I haven't kept up.
i love poems
Dear Paul Hoover,
Very much enjoyed Postmodern American Poetry Second Edition. I studied the first edition for an American Poetry class. I started reading the second edition to have a discussion with Sharon Mesmer after one of my Creative Writing professors created an introduction for me so I could ask her some questions about Flarf & Conceptual poetry. As I read, I started writing new lines out of each poem constrained only to words that were in each poem, so all 114 poets have a new stanza with however many lines as poems were included in the anthology. For example, John Cage's stanza is two lines long & Frank O'Hara's stanza is ten lines long. I would like to talk to you more about this project of mine if you are interested. Please reply or contact me at piksie66@gmail.com
Thank you for your time!
Kelsie
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