[New-Poetry] American Poets Project

[David Graham]

I'd like to offer another rave recommendation for the wonderful  
American Poets Project put out by Library of America.  If you haven't  
seen these books, they are small hardcovers of selected poems by  
various dead Americans, most introduced by fellow poets.   Rukeyser  
is edited by Rich; Edward Hirsch does Roethke; David Lehman does  
Ammons, Elizabeth Alexander does Brooks, etc.

The retail price for each is about $20, and I gather there is some  
degree of subsidy from the estate of James Merrill to produce the books.

Recently I've been spending some time near a library with the full  
run, so I've been perusing their editions of Kenneth Koch, Carl  
Sandburg, Muriel Rukeyser, A. R. Ammons, Walt Whitman, and John  
Berryman.

Previously I've looked at their selections of Millay, Williams,  
Roethke, Winters, Menashe, Fearing, Brooks, Karl Shapiro, and Amy  
Lowell.

Every book is beautifully produced, intelligently edited, and well  
introduced.  Worth looking at even when you know the poets well.

The Koch edition, edited by Ron Padgett, is a particular delight.   
Koch is one of those poets whose excellence is nicely highlighted by  
such a selection. Kevin Young's Berryman also looks very interesting;  
I've mostly read his introduction so far.


========================================
David Graham
grahamd at ripon.edu

Home Page:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/About%20Me.html

Poetry Library:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
==========================================



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/pipermail/new-poetry/attachments/20070726/b85b1fc9/attachment.html