This unique work is the first book to bring systematically
gathered and analyzed data to bear on the question of how
contemporary poetry reaches the American public. It explores the
publishing patterns, experiences, methods, motivations, and rewards
of 203 living American poets from 1950 through 1980. Although all
the poets have published quite widely, including at least one
poetry book, they range from the little-known to the famous, from
the well-established to the relatively young, from those who write
in more or less traditional forms to the highly experimental. Among
the many poets who cooperated in the study are Philip Levine, Gary
Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Theodore Enslin, Maxine Kumin, May Swenson,
Donald Justice, William Stafford, Mona Van Duyn, Robert Hass, and
Robert Pinsky. The book also explores the roles played by the major
categories of periodicals that publish poetry-general interest
magazines, academic literary journals, and independent little
magazines. Commercial book presses, university presses, and small
presses are also tracked and analyzed.
Information for this study was obtained from various sources,
including the many hundreds of little magazines and academic
literary journals published throughout the thirty years; published
interviews, with articles and statements by the 203 poets; and an
extensive questionnaire survey sent to the poets, as well as many
expansive letters that accommodate their returned questionnaires.
Two chapters frame the findings. Chapter 1 surveys the publishing
of American poetry from approximately 1900 through the 1940s,
highlighting important tendencies and trends that continued through
1980. Chapter 8 surveys American poetry publishing since 1980,
paying special attention to the major change during this decade:
the dramatic decline in public funding for nonprofit literary
enterprises. This volume should appeal to those interested in the
sociology of publishing, American literature, or creative
writing.
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