Twentieth-Century American Poetry - (Wiley Blackwell Guides to Literature) by Christopher Macgowan (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Written by a leading authority on William Carlos Williams, this book provides a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to twentieth-century American poetry.

• A wide-ranging and stimulating critical guide to twentieth-century American poetry.
  
• Written by a leading authority on the innovative modernist poet, William Carlos Williams.
  
• Explores the material, historical and social contexts in which twentieth-century American poetry was produced.
  
• Includes a biographical dictionary of major writers with extended entries on poets ranging from Robert Frost to Adrienne Rich.
  
• Contains a section on key texts considering major works, such as 'The Waste Land', 'North & South', 'Howl' and 'Ariel'.
  
• The final section draws out key themes, such as American poetry, politics and war, and the process of anthologizing at the end of the century.

From the Back Cover

Written by a leading authority on William Carlos Williams, this book provides a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to twentieth-century American poetry.

The guide is designed to help students familiarise themselves with this period in literature and features:

• An exploration of the material, historical and social contexts in which twentieth-century poetry was produced, covering literary centers, little magazines, the Harlem Renaissance, sixties counterculture, and multiculturalism, among other issues.
  
• A biographical dictionary of major writers with extended entries on poets ranging from Robert Frost and Langston Hughes to Adrienne Rich and Rita Dove. Both poets who had an impact on the development of poetry during the twentieth century and prominent contemporary poets are represented.
  
• A section on key texts considering major works, such as The Waste Land, North & South and Ariel.

A final section drawing out pertinent themes, such as poetry and politics, the relation of poetry to other arts, and the process of anthologizing at the end of the century.

Review Quotes

"[A] useful reference book, especially for sudents and teachers. [...It is] cogent and clear, sound and well-informed." The Virginia Quarterly Review

"The year's most substantial and accessible reference volume." American Literary Scholarship

About the Author

Christopher MacGowan is Professor of Literature at the College of William and Mary. He has published extensively on twentieth-century American poetry but is best known as the acclaimed editor of the works of William Carlos Williams.