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Staff Pick
I have not kept up-to-date on contemporary poets, so American Journal, curated by Tracy K. Smith, was immediately appealing to me. This collection is thematically and stylistically diverse; it's a great introduction to some of America's best poets, but it's also a thoughtful meditation on being an American in 2018. Recommended By Ashleigh B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Selected and with an Introduction by Tracy K. Smith
Copublished by Graywolf Press and the Library of Congress, American Journal presents 50 contemporary poems that explore and celebrate our country and our lives. Poet Laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith has gathered a remarkable chorus of voices that ring up and down the registers of American poetry. In the elegant arrangement of this anthology, we hear stories from rural communities and urban centers, laments of loss in war and in grief, experiences of immigrants, outcries at injustices, and poems that honor elders, evoke history, and praise our efforts to see and understand one another. Taking its title from a poem by Robert Hayden, the first African American appointed as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, American Journal investigates our time with curiosity, wonder, and compassion.
Among the 50 poets included are: Jericho Brown, Natalie Diaz, Matthew Dickman, Mark Doty, Ross Gay, Aracelis Girmay, Joy Harjo, Terrance Hayes, Cathy Park Hong, Marie Howe, Major Jackson, Ilya Kaminsky, Robin Coste Lewis, Ada Limón, Layli Long Soldier, Erika L. Sánchez, Solmaz Sharif, Danez Smith, Susan Stewart, Mary Szybist, Natasha Trethewey, Brian Turner, Charles Wright, and Kevin Young.
About the Author
Tracy K. Smith is the author of Wade in the Water; Life on Mars, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a New York Times Notable Book; Duende, winner of the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets and an Essence Literary Award; and The Body’s Question, winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. She is also the author of a memoir, Ordinary Light, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. In 2017, Smith was appointed Poet Laureate of the United States. She teaches at Princeton University, and lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her family.