Almost Paradise: New and Selected Poems and Translations

by Sam Hamill

Sam Hamill is that rare figure whose life is continually in dialogue with the rich and diverse tradition of poetry, whether that dialogue takes the form of translating the work of a poet long dead, writing a poem in celebration of the work of a contemporary poet, or musing on what it means to be a poet himself. A true poet's poet—and also the founding editor of Copper Canyon Press, one of the most influential publishers of poetry today—Hamill has been part of America's poetry scene for decades and has won numerous prizes and awards for his work. This collection presents the best of Hamill's work from his thirteen books of original poetry and from his numerous critically acclaimed works of translation, as well as a number of new, previously unpublished poems.

Genres: Poetry

280 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2005

About the author

Poet, editor, translator, and essayist, Sam Hamill is author of more than thirty books including two from BOA Editions, Gratitude (1998), and Dumb Luck(2002). He has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including ones from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, two Washington Governor’s Arts Awards, the Stanley Lindberg Lifetime Achievement Award for Editing, and the Washington Poets Association Lifetime Achievement Award for poetry. He co-founded Copper Canyon Press, and has worked extensively in prisons and with battered women and children.

Reviews

[Shaindel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Hamill is one of our literary American treasures. This book inclues the section _Traveling Companions_ in which he has translated Li Po, Basho, Sappho, Catullus, and others, and then selected works of his original poetry. Amazing!

Please listen to my interview with him here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onword/2...

[Axel Aranha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot speak on the quality of said selected translations within the Traveling Companions (since I am not well versed within the field.) But as a poet myself, I can comment on his work. I found Hamill's work to be quite perplexing. He goes from rambling rambunctiously in some poems to merely writing two lines in the next. For example, his second to last poem "A Pisan Canto" was so incredibly long, I almost forgot about the rest of his selected works. Meanwhile his supposed poem "Nothing Quite so Cold" only has eight words. EIGHT WORDS. There was so much potential to expand in many poems, and so much content to cut from not as interesting ones in my opinion. I don't mind the formatting within these poems, and as far as the lyrical quality of the poetry itself; it can vary from sublime to subpar. My experience reading this book was overall a mixed bag. After doing a brief search on Sam Hamill and his co-founded Copper Canyon Press (that he kept mentioning throughout his poetry like an advertisement) I see that he is a revered poet within the community. A shame that this book seemed to have selected an unbalanced set of his work to showcase.

[Bill Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful translations and many wonderful poems of his own.

[Youssef Dawod · Rating 3 out of 5]

أريد أن أنظر للبحر
ولا أفكر سوى في أنني عطشان

[Scipio Africanus · Rating 3 out of 5]

while his translations are awesome，and he had a few great poems in here, I couldnt finish it, and found myself literally saying outloud multiple times towards the end "what a load of shit." prob got about 3/4 through it. too sentimental, and almost too obviously trying to be like Rexroth

[Babs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful and inspiring collection.

[Mills College Library]

811.54 H2172a 2005

[Robert Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite poets and translators of Japanese and Chinese verse

[Statmanm · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute pleasure.