The American Poet Laureate: A History of U.S. Poetry and the State by Amy Paeth

The Nile on eBay The American Poet Laureate by Amy Paeth The American Poet Laureate shows how the state has been the silent center of poetic production in the United States since World War II. It is the first history of the national poetry office, the U.S. poet laureate. FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITION

Brand New Publisher Description The American Poet Laureate shows how the state has been the silent center of poetic production in the United States since World War II. It is the first history of the national poetry office, the U.S. poet laureate, highlighting the careers of Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Pinsky, Tracy K. Smith, Juan Felipe Herrera, and Joy Harjo at the nation's Capitol. It is also a history of how these state poets participated in national arts programming during the Cold War.Drawing on previously unexplored archival materials at the Library of Congress and materials at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Amy Paeth describes the interactions of federal bodies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with literary organizations and with private patrons, including "Prozac heiress" Ruth Lilly. The consolidation of public and private interests is crucial to the development of state verse culture, recognizable at the first National Poetry Festival in 1962, which followed Robert Frost's "Mission to Moscow," and which became dominant in the late 1990s and early 2000s.The American Poet Laureate contributes to a growing body of institutional and sociological approaches to U.S. literary production in the postwar era and demonstrates how poetry has played a uniquely important, and largely underacknowledged, role in the cultural front of the Cold War. Table of Contents AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. State Verse Scandals: The Bollingen Affair and Postwar Poets at the Library of Congress, 1945–19562. Inaugurating National Poetry: Robert Frost and Cold War Arts, 1956–19653. The Politics of Voice: The Poet-Critic, the Creative Writer, and the Poet Laureate, 1965–19904. Civil Versus Civic Verse: National Projects of U.S. Poets Laureate, 1990–2022Epilogue: "An Invisible Berlin Wall"—the Cold War, the U.S. Inaugural Poem, and the Future of State VerseAppendix I: Occupants of the U.S. National Poetry OfficeAppendix II: Fellows in American Letters at the Library of CongressAppendix III: U.S. Inaugural PoetsNotesBibliographyIndex Review Amy Paeth's book is a study of why poetry is, as T. S. Eliot claimed, so stubbornly national. Focusing on poet laureates, Cold Warriors, cultural diplomats, and inaugural poets, she historicizes and complicates this relationship. It's the best sort of literary scholarship: smart, surprising, and field-changing. -- Juliana Spahr, author of Du Bois's Telegram: Literary Resistance and State ContainmentThe American Poet Laureate is a compelling tale of intrigue, clashing nationalist politics, and the forging of what Paeth chillingly calls "state verse culture." Starting with the amazing tale of Ezra Pound's Bollingen Prize quickly followed by a detailed account of Robert Frost's triumphalist inaugural poem, Paeth shows how the state's investment in poetry often masks the ideological construction of both poetry and America. -- Charles Bernstein, author of Topsy-TurvyWhy The American Poet Laureate hasn't been written until now is perplexing, but Amy Paeth's enterprising report makes the wait worthwhile. Her diligent archival trawl is put to vivid and informative use throughout, and bringing the story up to the present combines historical perspective with news of the day. This is not just a book, it's a public service, deftly revealing how "craft" is always also statecraft. -- Jed Rasula, author of The American Poetry Wax Museum: Reality Effects, 1940-1990The U.S. poet laureateship was established during eras of global hot and then cold wars. Thus it was bound to get caught up in every manner of issue and problem except, even, at times, the poetic! Can one poet's verse be aptly deemed official? Can a multi-regional, multi-cultural immigrant nation successfully and persuasively choose a single notion of verse to represent it? Does the poet's characteristic ambivalence toward power ever befit a nationalist honor? Amy Paeth tells the whole fascinating story for the first time here. This book is a triumph of convergent modes of literary and institutional history. -- Al Filreis, University of PennsylvaniaThis is a surprising, provocative, and convincing history of ongoing efforts by poetry's advocates to borrow authority from state agencies. Poets from Robert Frost to Joy Harjo make plans for readers, could-be readers—even politicians. Now this art has honorable, reasonable intentions. Problem solved? -- Robert von Hallberg, author of Lyric PowersThe American Poet Laureate is an important book, and one that should be pondered in creative writing programmes, by prize administrators and in the editorial offices of well-funded magazines. -- A. E. Stallings * Times Literary Supplement *Recommended. * Choice Reviews *Having spent over a decade in the Library of Congress archives, Paeth is well equipped to tell this history . . . [The American Poet Laureate] offer[s] up a fresh analysis of how the US government and private entities have shaped the field of poetry. -- Christina Obolenskaya * Harvard Review *A magisterial history of the office of the US Poet Laureate. -- Kurt Milberger * The Journal of American Cutlure *One of the best examples of the new institutionalism in literary studies. * American Literary History * Review Quote Why The American Poet Laureate hasn't been written until now is perplexing, but Amy Paeth's enterprising report makes the wait worthwhile. Her diligent archival trawl is put to vivid and informative use throughout, and bringing the story up to the present combines historical perspective with news of the day. This is not just a book, it's a public service, deftly revealing how "craft" is always also statecraft. Details ISBN0231194390 Author Amy Paeth Short Title The American Poet Laureate Publisher Columbia University Press Language English Year 2023 ISBN-10 0231194390 ISBN-13 9780231194396 Format Paperback Imprint Columbia University Press Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States NZ Release Date 2023-05-16 US Release Date 2023-05-16 Pages 328 Publication Date 2023-05-16 UK Release Date 2023-05-16 Subtitle A History of U.S. Poetry and the State DEWEY 811.5409 Audience Professional & Vocational AU Release Date 2023-08-16 We've got thisAt The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it.With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:143186544;