Edited by Robert Pack, Sydney Lea, and Jay Parini
(Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 19)
"These poems give evidence of concerns which hover over Bread Loaf Mountain for two weeks every, August-concerns for our allegiance to values and techniques handed down by serious predecessors whose ongoing presence has been vital to every lover of the word."
- - from the Foreword
The writing of poetry is a solitary endeavor, but poets have been gathering each summer for 6o years at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference of Middlebury College in Vermont to learn from each other and share their creations. For the first time, the spirit of Bread Loaf is available to a wider circle of poetry lovers in this collection of some of the best American poetry written since 1980.
The editors have selected 231poems from 72 writers, all of whom have published at least two books of poetry. Included are writers such as John Ashbery, Hayden Carruth, John Clardi, Donald Hall, Maxine Kumin, Paul Mariani, William Matthews, Linda Pastan, Richard Tillinghast, and Nancy Willard. The result is a varied collection attesting to the vitality of American writing. The reader can trace traditional American voices, values, and techniques or be surprised by unorthodox forms and themes suggesting new and unexplored paths. Yet a volume such as this also reveals the common voice of contemporary American poetry within such diversity. The editors state that "Bread Loaf embodies a dedication to the communal sense of literature even in a country as huge as ours." That dedication is evident in this first Bread Loaf anthology.
Featured Poets
A. R. Ammons
John Ashbery
Marvin Bell
Wendell Berry
Michael Blumenthal
Philip Booth
David Bottoms
Hayden Carruth
Fred Chappell
John Ciardi
Alfred Corn
Carl Dennis
William Dickey
Stephen Dobyns
Rita Dove
Stephen Dunn
Richard Eberhart
John Engels
Donald Finkel
Jorie Graham
Marilyn Hacker
Pamela White Hadas
John Haines
Donald Hall
Anthony Hecht
Mark Jarman
Erica Jong
Donald Justice
X. J. Kennedy
Galway Kinnell
Maxine Kumin
Stanley Kunitz
Sydney Lea
Philip Levine
Paul Mariani
William Matthews
James Merrill
Judith Moffett
Frederick Morgan
Howard Moss
Carol Muske
Leonard Nathan
John Frederick Nims
Sharon Olds
Carole Oles
Steven Orlen
Gregory Orr
Robert Pack
Jay Parini
Linda Pastan
Robert Pinsky
Stanley Plumly
Lawrence Raab
Ira Sadoff
Charles Simic
Jim Simmerman
Dave Smith
William Stafford
George Starbuck
Gerald Stern
Anne Stevenson
Mark Strand
Richard Tillinghast
Ellen Bryant Voigt
David Wagoner
Robert Penn Warren
James Whitehead
Richard Wilbur
Nancy Willard
Miller Williams
Charles Wright
Paul Zimmer
"To reflect the various styles and concerns of the foremost voices 'in contemporary American poetry-from the traditional to the less orthodox, from the personal to the public-the editors have selected 231 poems from 72 poets [including John Ashbery, Hayden Carruth, John Ciardi, Donald Hall, Maxine Kumin, Paul Mariani, William Matthews, Linda Pastan, and Nancy Willard] ... (written since 1980)and unavailable in the poets' previous collections, making this sampler unique."
--Booklist
"A considerable collective achievement gives a clear picture of the variety and flavor of contemporary American poetry."
--Boston Review
"In a class by itself, offering new work by 72 mature poets ... The quality throughout is very high indeed ... For fresh strong work by recognized living poets, get the Bread Loaf, and buy subsequent volumes as they appear."
--Beloit Poetry Journal