North American Women Poets in the 21st Century: Beyond Lyric and Language is an important new addition to the American Poets in the 21st Century series. Like earlier anthologies, this volume includes generous selections of poetry by some of the best poets of our time as well as illuminating poetics statements and incisive essays on their work. This unique organization makes these books invaluable teaching tools. Broadening the lens through which we look at contemporary poetry, this new volume extends our reading of each poet beyond the constraints of any one aesthetic, school, or movement; this volume pushes readers to see beyond the binary of lyric and language. What unites the varied approaches of these writers, is a commitment to creating new fields, new idioms, new vernaculars, and new forms. Key areas of conflict and concern, among the eleven poets, include genre and the nature of the lyric, connections between gender and aesthetics, and the nature of poetic language. Among the insightful pieces included in this volume are essays by Catherine Cucinella on Marilyn Chin, Meg Tyler on Fanny Howe, Elline Lipkin on Alice Notley, Kamran Javadizadeh on Claudia Rankine, Brian Teare on Martha Ronk, Michael Cross on Leslie Scalapino, Lynn Keller on Cole Swensen, Khadijah Queen on Natasha Trethewey, Lisa Russ Spaar on Jean Valentine, Julie Brown on Cecilia Vicuña, and Richard Greenfield on Rosmarie Waldrop. A companion web site will present audio of each poet's work.
