From Publishers Weekly
Donald Hall began publishing the Poets on Poetry series in 1976 with the modest hope that it "might be useful to young poets trying out their ideas. Most likely to sharpen their claws on." Most of the essays selected for the series were written in the "cowboy" period of the late '70s and early '80s, when well-funded poets fancied themselves "wild animals" while others, such as Robert Bly, could get away with criticizing the government for giving them money because it results in "the domestication of the poet." The idea of the poet, young or old, as a wild animal is unfortunately as comically out of date as the idea that the government might offer a poet enough money to obtain shelter. Young poets may in fact derive little wisdom from such a pampered poetic community. A few admirable moments offer some relief, however. Interviews with Robert Creeley and James Wright stand out like the tapping of a glass at a dull dinner, and two lyrical essays about the process of writing by Jane Miller and Maxine Kumin are fine, languid antidotes to the fussy efforts of their male counterparts. Amy Clampitt, Marge Piercy, Charles Simic, Anne Sexton and Thom Gunn also make strong, pointed contributions, but they might not be worth having to claw your way through such a mediocre collection. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
For twenty years, the Poets on Poetry series, under the editorship of Donald Hall, has provided readers with a variety of prose reflections, interviews, essays, and other works by America's leading contemporary poets. With Written in Water, Written in Stone, Martin Lammon celebrates the longevity and literary success of the series by gathering together exemplary selections from many of its volumes. Organized by theme ranging from language and form, politics and poetry, to the literary industry, Written in Water, Written in Stone offers a remarkable survey of the salient issues that concern contemporary poets and their readers.
Included are selections from, among others, Robert Bly, Hayden Carruth, Amy Clampitt, Robert Creeley, Tess Gallagher, Donald Hall, Robert Hayden, Galway Kinnell, Richard Kostelanetz, Maxine Kumin, Philip Levine, Marge Piercy, Anne Sexton, Charles Simic, Louis Simpson, William Stafford, Diane Wakoski, Charles Wright, and James Wright. This diverse collection of popular contemporary poets is sure to appeal to a wide range of readers.
Martin Lammon teaches creative writing at Fairmont State College. He is a poet and editor of the literary magazine Kestrel.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A rich gathering from Poets on Poetry, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of this influential book series. Written in Water, Written in Stone gathers together exemplary selections from many of its volumes.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly