For the Time Being: The Bootstrap Book of Poetic Journals

Poetry. FOR THE TIME BEING brings together for the first time twenty-nine writers from three continents whose work explores and interrogates the genre of the poetic journal. Tracing its roots back to Sei Shonagon and Matsuo Basho through Thoreau's journals and into the work of the New American poets, the poetic journal remains a vibrant and adaptive genre that continues delight. Ever alert to the minutiae of daily lived experience, as well as to the linguistic twists and turns poems are likely to take when writing is oriented towards improvisation and discovery, these pieces enlarge our appreciation of the world in all its Whitmanic scope and splendor. Also included in this volume are an informative introduction outlining the history and characteristics of the genre, essays and interviews on favorite ancestors and aspects of the craft, and a piece dedicated to how to teach the poetic journal in the classroom. A valuable resource for poets, teachers, and scholars alike, this anthology collects under one roof an eclectic grouping of poets whose various attentions enliven our works and days.