The Geography Of Home: California's Poetry Of Place (California Poetry Series) [Paperback]

Christopher Buckley (Editor), Gary Young (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1890771198 | ISBN-13: 978-1890771195 | Publication Date: April 1999

California is home to a wide variety of highly accomplished--in some cases, world-renowned--poets. Ripe with beauty, politics, and an endless diversity of people and cultures, California has nurtured poets born and raised on its soil, and drawn to it established writers from other places. The Geography of Home brings together the works of seventy-six important gures in contemporary California poetry, including Philip Levine, Peter Everwine, Mark Jarman, Adrienne Rich, Dennis Schmitz, Carolyn Kizer, Gary Soto, Al Young, Kim Addonizio, Charles Wright, Carol Muske, David St. John, Larry Levis, Robert Hass, Gary Snyder, William Everson, Gary Soto, Luis Omar Salinas, Diane Wakoski, Garrett Hongo, Jane Hirsheld, and Brenda Hillman. Through the multiple selections for each poet, we can witness connections to California, visions of the place poets have at one time or other called home. Additionally, the poets have written introductory statements expressly for this anthology that will speak to their history in California, and to the inuence of the state on their poetry.In this long-awaited collection, California's unique and complex geography is examined, questioned, and ultimately celebrated, through forms as varied, dynamic, and compelling as the state itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In their introduction, editors Buckley and Young, both accomplished poets, state, "We set out to gather the best poems we could find that celebrate and witness California and its people.... Many of the poets in this anthology offer an informed moral consciousness that rises out of their unique situation at the western edge of the continent." The editors have done their work well; this book is a rich collection reflecting the diversity, beauty, and spirit of adventure that are California. The poets, arranged alphabetically, are each represented by several poems, a brief biography, their own reflections concerning the influence of California on their work, and a photograph. Well-known figures such as Philip Levine, William Everson, Robert Hass, Adrienne Rich, Carolyn Kizer, Gary Snyder, Carol Muske, Diane Wakoski, and Charles Wright are interspersed with newer, lesser-known voices. The quality of the poems is uneven, but each of the 76 poets is grounded in and authentically expresses the California experience.AJudy Clarence, California State Univ. Lib., Hayward
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Ripe with possibilities, with a rich diversity of landscapes and people, California has nurtured poets born and raised on its soil, and has drawn to it established writers from other places as well. The Geography of Home brings together seventy-six contemporary poets--many of them world renowned--who present their visions of California. The poets have also contributed brief essays expressly written for this collection describing what California has meant to them and to their poetry. The result is an ample and exciting book in which California's emotional, cultural, and physical landscapes are examined, questioned, and ultimately celebrated.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Heyday Books (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890771198
• ISBN-13: 978-1890771195
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)