A New Geography of Poets

by Edward Field (Editor), Gerald Locklin

Sparked by Archibald MacLeish's assertion that "there always was a relationship between poet and place," Field and his co-editors offer an updated look at the contemporary poetry scene in A New Geography of Poets.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

EDWARD FIELD was born in Brooklyn, and grew up in Lynbrook, L.I., where he played cello in the Field Family Trio which had a weekly radio program on WGBB Freeport. He served in WWII in the 8th Air Force as a navigator in heavy bombers, and flew 25 missions over Germany. He began writing poetry during World War II, after a Red Cross worker handed him an anthology of poetry. But it was not until 1963 that his first book, Stand Up, Friend, With Me, won the Lamont Award and was published. In 1992, he received a Lambda Award for Counting Myself Lucky, Selected Poems 1963-1992. Other honors include the Shelley Memorial Award, a Prix de Rome, and an Academy Award for the documentary film “To Be Alive,” for which he wrote the narration. In 1979, he edited the anthology, A Geography of Poets, and in 1992 with Gerald Locklin and Charles Stetler, brought out a sequel, A New Geography of Poets. He and his partner Neil Derrick, long-time residents of Greenwich Village, have written a best-selling historical novel about the Village, The Villagers. His most recent book is his literary memoirs, The Man Who Would Marry Susan Sontag, and Other Intimate Literary Portraits of the Bohemian Era. After the Fall, Poems Old and New, will be published by the U. of Pittsburgh Press in October, 2007.

Reviews

[Pachyderm Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Space is the place," when one is in concern with the content of this anthology. Content here runs the gamut with the most from coast to coast, while geography remains thoroughly rooted tongue-in-cheek. William Least Heat Moon would be jealous of the high ways and bye-ways these poets take with the mental journeys they're on; psychological road maps with imagist off-ramps offer many
wild truck-stop carnival rides here.

[claudia v · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent anthology of American poetry

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection. I love poems of place.

I imagine living here as if I'd never left,
As if there were no Earth, no spring or fall
I say words I haven't said in years:
"Mesquite," "Saguaro," -- and they burn my mouth
As if I'd eaten thorns.

-- Maura Stanton from Returning to Arizona

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this, and loving it. I've just moved into a new house now and can't find it. It's nice to find a poetry collection that's balanced geographically. Sometimes I feel like an orphan here in the far west.

[M Delea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have the first edition, given to me, along with a manual typewriter and a private college education, as a high school graduation gift. It's an amazing anthology--very diverse in many ways. I still turn to this book, 30 years later!

[Mills College Library]

811.5408 N53226 1992