Edited by poet and novelist Laynie Browne, this unique anthology brings together essays by contemporary poets about their favorite “poet’s novel”—a novel written by a poet that defies the traditional conventions of plot, character, setting, and action. The fifty-seven essays include Kazim Ali on Fanny Howe, Rachel Blau DuPlessis on Gertrude Stein, Julia Bloch on Gwendolyn Brooks, Jeanne Heuving on Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, John Keene on Fernando Pessoa, and Lynn Xu on Ben Lerner. Each poet provides original insights and approaches to their essays, such as Norma Cole addressing her essay of Emmanuel Hocquard’s Aerea dans les forêts de Manhattan to the late poet Stacy Doris and Traci Brimhall’s question-and-answer essay on Hilda Hilst’s The Obscene Madame D. Perfect for writers seeking to venture past the confines of genre, this anthology is both a collection of innovative critical essays and an excellent reading list of lyrical novels.
