A necessarily truncated fly-by-night intro to contemporary US poetry. Do let me know what you would have chosen / name-checked instead!
In the third part of this series, Roddy Lumsden recommends some books to those wishing to investigate contemporary American poetry.
A century back, modernism appeared to split American poetry into two camps – the traditional and the innovative. This idea of a 'parallel tradition' is far from clear cut, yet since the mainstay of US poetry publishing is the University press, a less commercially, more academically driven climate has thrived. 'Experimental' movements such as the Beats, the New York School and 'language poetry' have thrived too. The past decade has seen a younger generation binding the strands back together.
Since there is just so much being written, US poetry tends to fall into (often warring) camps. As ever, there are a number of popular poets who rise above such factional struggles, as well as genuine innovators who push poetry forward into new places. I have been seriously interested in recent US poetry for several years, and still feel I'm only scratching the surface. With so much to choose from, I'll stick here mainly to collections which are widely available in the UK.
First though, let me mention a few reliable anthologies: The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary Poetry (ed. M Collier and S Plumly) is expansive, with small selections from many writers. Poets of the New Century (ed R Weingarten) is another good place to start. Both, however, tend to select poets from a more traditional mode, and so I also recommend Postmodern American Poetry (Norton, ed P Hoover) which ranges over 50 years of engrossing, innovative writing. Meanwhile, the recent Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century (ed. M Dumanis and C Marvin) does a very good job of rounding up the newer generation, from across the spectrum.
Another way into current American poetry is to read the major periodicals: the tabloid-style American Poetry Review and the book-sized Poetry are both recommended, the former being more-wide-ranging in its remit, the latter being more international and excellent value (its low cover price aided by a hundred million dollar bequest a few years ago!).
Undoubtedly, the most popular US poet of recent years has been Billy Collins. His wry poems have found a wide readership at a time when the general reader of poetry was thought to be near extinct. Inevitably, his work divides people, with some finding in it more charm than craft. However, Collins' best work moves beyond the warm fuzz of shared experience and he is to be applauded for his mission (begun when Poet Laureate) to bring contemporary verse to a younger and wider audience. The best bet with Collins is the selection in Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes (Picador).
Another poet with both devoted fans and detractors is Sharon Olds, whose Selected Poems appeared here from Cape a year back. At a time when personal, confessional poetry had been devalued due to overkill, Olds raised the bar, removed it even. Her relationships with her parents, husband and children fire her pacey narrative poetry, and she can be as tender as she can be forthright. A poet who spins another sort of story is Brigit Pegeen Kelly whose most recent book is The Orchard, though her first collection Song (both BOA) is also recommended. Though her poems (often long and twisting) have a folkloric quality, they are set here and now, in a sinister, rural landscape populated by totemic animals, troubled children and other denizens of American gothic.
Long-championed in the UK by Faber, August Kleinzahler is hard to pin down, part of no scene, and this has led to a genuinely wide readership. Something of a hero to the younger, hipper crowd, he also enjoys great critical acclaim. Kleinzahler's poems are snappy, rich, they bustle with popular culture, city scenes, the awkward dances of men and women. All of his books are worth having, but Live From the Hong Kong Nile Club rounds up work from his early books and is the best introduction.
Scandalize My Name (Picador) offers selections from the many books of Yusef Komunyakaa, a writer who came to notice with poems about his experiences as a reporter in wartime Vietnam. While his earlier work is jazzy, direct, image-heavy, these days Komunyakaa prefers an allusive, more concentrated mode. The poetry is always original and highly readable. Another African-American whose style has shifted is Rita Dove (another former Poet Laureate), but while Komunyakaa has become 'more difficult', Dove has been making her lines more accessible, more public, and I now miss the richness and lyricism in books such as Grace Notes (Norton), probably her best.
Of the younger generation, the most engaging poets are those working between the poles of the parallel tradition. Brenda Shaughnessy (Irish father, Japanese mother) spins a magical, lyrical surface over densely-packed depths. The poems can be difficult, the narratives unresolved but the sparkling language shows why FSG (a large and traditional press) chose to publish her stunning debut Interior With Sudden Joy. Another young poet I expect much from is Andrew Grace, whose first book A Belonging Field was published by UK-based Salt a few years ago, when the poet was only 24. He writes an impressionistic, eerie verse which deals with growing up on Illinois farms. Much rural poetry is traditional in style, so Grace's drifting diction and filmic imagery are wholly refreshing.