The Whole of Poetry is Preposition Format: Paperback

Royet-Journoud’s evocation of the preposition is in homage to Louis Zukofsky; they share a deep affinity for the particular, and for the actual particulars that compose our days—the delicate tissue that binds them. Here the poetics of one of the most important poets of the late 20th/early 21st century is articulated—lucidly and luminously. He sheds light on the subject.

Claude Royet-Journoud’s work has been central to the revolution in poetry that has directed the course of French letters since the mid-1960s. He has been seminal in reconceiving the subject and its performance in the theater of the page, and has been a determining influence on subsequent generations of poets. His tetralogy, published by Gallimard from 1972 to 1997, is already a classic in the long tradition of French poetic innovation that goes back to François Villon. In this new work, he addresses his poetics with a grace and concision that constitutes a new poetic genre.

Keith Waldrop has been a leader in American explorative poetics for the past 50 years. The author of 18 books in various and mixed genres, he was awarded the 2009 National Book Award in poetry and has twice received NEA fellowships in translation. His recent translations of Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil and Paris Spleen have met with extensive critical acclaim. He has been named a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by the French government, and, with Rosmarie Waldrop, is the founder and editor of Burning Deck Publications.