Contemporary American Poetry Sixth Edition [Paperback]

A. Poulin (Author), Poulin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996

This highly respected anthology presents the work of 66 poets who have "shaped the contours and direction of the mainstream of American poetry" from 1955 to the present. The alphabetically arranged collection provides a generous sampling of each poet with a photo, biographical sketches, and bibliographies.

Editor Michael Waters continues the careful selection process as A. Poulin's literary executor. Dr. Waters is a prolific poet, whose works have appeared in the Antioch Review and the Yale Review. He has won two Pushcart Prizes and several fellowships, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH); 6 edition (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395745322
• ISBN-13: 978-0395745328
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #894,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent sample of poets for novice readers, April 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Contemporary American Poetry Sixth Edition (Paperback)

I took a mandatory poetry-writing class in college and this was my textbook. Unfortunately, I learned I am no poet and am probably a very unsophisticated reader of poetry as well. But I have been trying to develop a taste for it, and this book has been invaluable.

This book is a 700+ anthology of 60 poets who have been influential since the end of World War II. Each author has a short bio that sums up the prevalent themes of his/her works. The book features several Pulitzer Prize winners, and showcases all of the prevalent styles and forms of modern poetry.

I recommend this book to anyone unfamiliar with the contemporary poetry scene (or to poetry in general). It has been an invaluable educational aid to me and has given me hours of relaxing reading.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars and yet another anthology, February 8, 2004

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Contemporary American Poetry (7th edition, 2000) (Paperback)

On my ever growing shelf of poetry anthologies, I have added Poulins' Contemporary American Poetry. It is a fair selection of poems. Of course it is a matter of opinion as to who is missing and who should be in there (no Hecht or Thom Gunn, which is a big loss). There are excellent selections of poems for Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Bly, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Alan Dugan, Robert Hayden, Maxine Kumin, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, and W.D Snodgrass. There are other excellent poets in here (such as Marilyn Nelson and Andrew Hudgins), but the selection of poems isn't the best work they have. For content you might want to look elsewhere, there are important poems and poets that are missing here.

What I do like about this anthology is the way it is put together. Before each poet's selection there is a full page picture of the poet--so you can see what they looked like. It's not important, but it is nice to see. And they bios at the end are great. They cover the poet's life and a little critical work about the poems themselves. The Notes on the Poets is what truly makes this anthology worthwhile.

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary American Poetry, September 22, 2011

By 

New2This - See all my reviews

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