Sources: American Poets and Poetry: From the Colonial Era to the Present
American Poets and Poetry: From the Colonial Era to the Present. Ed. by Jeffrey Gray, Mary McAleer Balkun, and James McCorkle. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2015. 2 vols. Acid free $189 (ISBN: 978-1-61069-831-3). E-book available (978-1-61069-832-0), call for pricing.
In many ways American Poets and Poetry: From the Colonial Era to the Present is a condensed version of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry (Greenwood, 2006). They have the same editors, many of the same contributors, and there is overlap in the poets and topics covered. The earlier encyclopedia was five volumes and much more comprehensive, but this new work does cover some contemporary poets not found in the previous work, such as Natasha Trethewey, and has more recent information about some of the still living poets.
The alphabetical arrangement of the entries, along with a table of contents and an index, make it easy to use. Signed entries include some biographical information, exploration of the poets’ style and themes, and very brief lists of primary and secondary sources. Frequently entries discuss individual poems or poem collections, which really helps illustrate the nature of the poet’s work. This two volume work also contains a historical chronology, a bibliography (featuring anthologies of poetry, critical studies, reference works, and websites), and an introduction that provides context for the periods covered.
The topical entries are a strength of this work since they make it more than just a biographical source. A student can gain more understanding about such topics as beat poetry, imagism, Native American poetry, and postmodern poetics. Unfortunately the topical entries are not easily linked to the individual poets. There is no “see also” section in the entries, and poets discussed in a topical entry are not highlighted in any way, even if they have their own entry. The index helps solve this oversight. For example, when beat poetry appears in the index, it lists not only the page numbers for the main topical entry and other pages where beat poetry is mentioned, but it also lists under it the names of beat poets that have entries.
The target audience for this reference work is high school and college students. It’s only recommended for libraries who have not already purchased The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry, or perhaps for those looking for a more compact reference work on this topic to be added to their circulating collection.—Arianne A. Hartsell-Gundy, Librarian for Literature and Theater Studies, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina