Cambridge University Press The Cambridge Companion to American Poetry since 1945 (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

The extent to which American poetry reinvented itself after World War II is a testament to the changing social, political and economic landscape of twentieth-century American life. Registering an important shift in the way scholars contextualize modern and contemporary American literature, this Companion explores how American poetry has documented and, at times, helped propel the literary and cultural revolutions of the past sixty-five years. This Companion sheds new light on the Beat, Black Arts and other movements while examining institutions that govern poetic practice in the United States today. The text also introduces seminal figures like Sylvia Plath, John Ashbery and Gwendolyn Brooks while situating them alongside phenomena such as the 'academic poet' and popular forms such as spoken word and rap, revealing the breadth of their shared history. Students, scholars and readers will find this Companion an indispensable guide to post-war and late twentieth-century American poetry. Book Description This Companion casts post-1945 American poetry as a coherent literary movement, making the period's most difficult offerings comprehensible and accessible. About the Author Jennifer Ashton is Associate Professor of English at the University of Illinois, Chicago, where she teaches literary theory and the history of poetry. She is author of From Modernism to Postmodernism: American Poetry and Theory in the Twentieth Century and has published articles in Modernism/Modernity, Modern Philology, American Literary History and the Western Humanities Review.