A review by kweekwegg
American Poets in the 21st Century: Poetics of Social Engagement by Michael Dowdy, Claudia Rankine

5.0

The way in which each poet is presented -- selected poems, their poetics statement, and a critical essay written by a contemporary -- is enough to give the impression of community of engagement happening in the text itself. And no matter the poet, I found the poetics statements engrossing, whether as creatives works in and of themselves or when used as lenses for the other work. I've read the book as a student, and it strikes me as an extremely useful book for future classrooms, in both its form and content. Other anthologies can learn from its way of intratextual engagement. The book has also introduced me to Hedge Coke, Moten, Tejada, Kapil and Borzutsky, for which I'm sure I will continue to be grateful.