A Vertical Art - by Simon Armitage (Paperback)

About the Book

"In A Vertical Art, acclaimed poet Simon Armitage takes a refreshingly common-sense approach to an art form that can easily lend itself to grand statements and hollow gestures. Questioning both the facile and obscure ends of the poetry spectrum, he offers sparkling new insights about poetry and an array of favorite poets. Based on Armitage's public lectures as Oxford Professor of Poetry, A Vertical Art illuminates poets as varied as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, W. H. Auden, Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn, A. R. Ammons, and Claudia Rankine. The chapters are often delightfully sassy in their treatment, as in "Like, Elizabeth Bishop," in which Armitage dissects--and tallies--the poet's predilection for similes. He discusses Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize, poetic lists, poetry and the underworld, and the dilemmas of translating Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Armitage also pulls back the curtain on the unromantic realities of making a living as a contemporary poet, and ends the book with his own list of "Ninety-Five Theses" on the principles and practice of poetry. An appealingly personal book that explores the volatile and disputed definitions of poetry from the viewpoint of a practicing writer and dedicated reader, A Vertical Art makes an insightful and entertaining case for the power and potential of poetry today."--

Book Synopsis

From the UK Poet Laureate and bestselling translator, a spirited book that demystifies and celebrates the art of poetry today

In A Vertical Art, acclaimed poet Simon Armitage takes a refreshingly common-sense approach to an art form that can easily lend itself to grand statements and hollow gestures. Questioning both the facile and obscure ends of the poetry spectrum, he offers sparkling new insights about poetry and an array of favorite poets.

Based on Armitage's public lectures as Oxford Professor of Poetry, A Vertical Art illuminates poets as varied as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, W. H. Auden, Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn, A. R. Ammons, and Claudia Rankine. The chapters are often delightfully sassy in their treatment, as in "Like, Elizabeth Bishop," in which Armitage dissects--and tallies--the poet's predilection for similes. He discusses Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize, poetic lists, poetry and the underworld, and the dilemmas of translating Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Armitage also pulls back the curtain on the unromantic realities of making a living as a contemporary poet, and ends the book with his own list of "Ninety-Five Theses" on the principles and practice of poetry.

An appealingly personal book that explores the volatile and disputed definitions of poetry from the viewpoint of a practicing writer and dedicated reader, A Vertical Art makes an insightful and entertaining case for the power and potential of poetry today.

Review Quotes

"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"

"

A Vertical Art add[s] greatly to our feeling for [Armitage's] skill as a craftsman as well as the range of his knowledge of the living, demotic tradition of poetry. . . . The writing is often raw, often hilarious, and always massively intelligent as it goes about charming you.

"---Jesse Nathan, McSweeney's

"Genially, sometimes waspishly, [Armitage] expounds his belief in languaage as humanitie's most powerful tool, and poetry as the ultimate expression of its potential."---Rishi Dastidar, Guardian

"In this collection of 12 essays . . . Armitage speaks as much to the learned scholar as to the everyday poetry dabbler. . . . he instils in his reader an intense desire to devour the poetry over which he takes such care, from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to Claudia Rankine."---Ellen Peirson-Hagger, New Statesman

"The book makes poetry seem both accessible to modern readers--who likely imagine the words to be too dense to be understood for pleasure--and at the same time profound. The focus is on how poetry binds people together and how it is a form of art that anyone can indulge in."-- "Choice"

"12 attractive lectures."---Craig Raine, Spectator Australia

About the Author

Simon Armitage is UK Poet Laureate, professor of poetry at the University of Leeds, and former Oxford Professor of Poetry. He is the author of more than a dozen poetry collections and is the acclaimed translator of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and other books.