Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #198496 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 354 pages

Synopsis
With no fewer than 84 contributors, this is a truly groundbreaking anthology. There are plenty of modern sonnet anthologies around; but none that have delved so thoroughly into the myriad ways poets have stretched, deconstructed and re-composed the venerable form, including visual and concrete sonnets. We take as our time frame 1945 to the 21st century, with poets ranging from Edwin Denby (born - 1903) to those currently in their twenties. Jeff Hilson, the editor, contributes an introductory essay.It's contributors include: Robert Adamson, Jeremy Adler, Tim Atkins, Ted Berrigan, Jen Bervin, Rachel Blau duPlessis, Christian Bok, Sean Bonney, Ebbe Borregaard, Jonathan Brannen, Pam Brown, Laynie Browne, Thomas A Clark, Adrian Clarke, John Clarke, Bob Cobbing, Clark Coolidge, Kelvin Corcoran, Beverly Dahlen, Ian Davidson, Edwin Denby, Laurie Duggan, Paul Dutton, Ken Edwards, Michael Farrell, Allen Fisher, Kathleen Fraser, William Fuller, John Gibbens, Harry Gilonis, Giles Goodland, Bill Griffiths, Alan Halsey, Robert Hampson, Jeff Hilson, Anselm Hollo, Lyn Hejinian, Piers Hugill, Peter Jaeger, Elizabeth James, Lisa Jarnot, Keith Jebb, Justin Katko, John Kinsella, Philip Kuhn, Michelle Leggott, Tony Lopez, Chris McCabe, Steve McCaffery, Jackson Mac Low, Richard Makin, Peter Manson, Brian Marley, Bernadette Mayer, Jay Millar, David Miller, and Peter Minter.

It's contributors also include: Geraldine Monk, Harryette Mullen, Philip Nikolayev, Alice Notley, Abigail Oborne, Ron Padgett, Bern Porter, Frances Presley, John A Scott, Tom Raworth, Peter Riley, Sophie Robinson, Stephen Rodefer, Maurice Scully, Gavin Selerie, Robert Sheppard, Aaron Shurin, Eleni Sikelianos, Simon Smith, Mary Ellen Solt, Juliana Spahr, Lawrence Upton, Carol Watts, Ian Wedde, John Welch, Johan de Wit, and Geoff Young.

Customer Reviews

essential reading
At last, here is a sonnet anthology that truly reflects the variety and depth of the form. It is a great place to start if you are interested in getting a feel for where the sonnet has been in recent times. It isn't cliquey or exclusionary like some anthologies and it avoids the mundane and predictable. What it is particularly exciting is its international scope: yes, American writers are well represented but so too is the rest of the English speaking world. Don't expect a manifesto or a diatribe, though. It lets the poems do the talking and the readers make up their own minds.

A must-have book
For anyone even remotely interested in poetry, The Reality Street Book of Sonnets is a must-have book. Full of delights, it'll open your eyes to the vast possibilities of this unbelievably versatile verse form - at least in the hands/pens of the featured poets. I can't compare with other modern sonnet anthologies as I haven't read them but find it hard to believe they can be as rich as this one!