There are a growing number of poetry books ‘set’ in another time, and are often referred to as ‘docupoetics.’ There are many varieties of docupoetics that can be traced to ancient times. Famous 20th century books that are now being called antecedents of the current wave of docupoetics include Muriel Rukeyser’s The Book of the Dead, Paterson by William Carlos Williams, Testimony by Charles Reznikoff, Octavio Paz’s Sunstone, and many others. In this century two classics are Kevin Young’s Ardency and Whereas by Layli Long Soldier.
This PITH is a reading, discussion, and workshop on poetry of this genre.
About Kevin
Kevin Gallagher is a poet, publisher, and political economists living in Belmont. Two of his recent books are And Yet it Moves and LOOM, (MadHat Press) both of which would be considered docupoetics. He is the publisher and editor of spoKe, a Boston area annual of poetry and poetics. He works as a professor of global development policy at Boston University.