America Zen: A Gathering of Poets - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0933087918 ISBN 13: 9780933087910

Publisher: Bottom Dog Pr, 2004

Synopsis

Poetry. Zen Buddhist Studies. An essential contemporary anthology of American Zen poets with an extensive introduction to the topic, "Outside the Box, Inside the Circle," by editors Smith and McNiece. Includes a biographic sketch, photo, and individual Zen statement from each of 30 contributing poets.

Contributors are Nin Andrews, David Budbill, Thomas Rain Crowe, Kathe Davis, Diane di Prima, Stanford M. Forrester, Tess Gallagher, Margaret Gibson, John Gilgun, Netta Gillespie, Sam Hamill, William Heyen, Jane Hirshfield, Holly Hughes, Mary Sue Koeppel, Mark Kuhar, Mac Lojowsky, Ray McNiece, Tom Montag, Shin Yu Pai, Paul S. Piper, Maj Ragain, David Ray, Seido Ray Ronci, Andrew Schelling, Paul Skyrm, Larry Smith, Tony Trigilio, Chase Twichell, and Anne Waldman.

"I have been reading AMERICA ZEN with pleasure, gazing up (in my inner mind) from time to time timelessly. Very glad to be part of this book. While neighbors rake lawns and cars honk their horns, this book will hold us."&;William Heyen

"What a wonderful addition to the literature of Zen and American poetry. I am proud to be in the book."&;Mary Sue Koepple

"My wife, who's not that fond of poetry, has read AMERICA ZEN from cover to cover."&;Seido Ray Ronci

About this title

From the Back Cover

This is an essential collection contemporary American Zen poets...30 in all, with a photo, bio, Zen statement, and 5 or more poems by each. It will help you center and know Zen.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the Introduction...to America Zen

?Outside the Box, Inside the Circle?

In gathering this loose sanga of contemporary American poets, we discovered much about the nature of Zen Buddhist art and its impact on America and its poetry. Some of which we?ll share here; much of which you will discover for yourself in your reading of these poems and personal Zen statements. Three main streams of the Zen outlook and aesthetic flow into the river of American poetry: the teachings and practice of Buddhism in America, the writings of older American Zen poets, and the translations of ancient Zen writings into English, typically by modern and contemporary poets??Larry Smith



So this diverse American sangha continues to sit and chant amid the frenetic activity of America . . . In general, America looks on poetry as it does Zen?as a useless, unnecessary waste of time; meanwhile it finds meaning in the superficial flash of televised samsara, looking for the new and improved, the bigger and better. And still we sit, write, and recite, wide open to a sky full of fiery flowerets comprising the jewel in the lotus. The stars shine from webs spun by Whitman?s noiseless, patient spider. We spin forth these filaments, these breaths of light, gossamer strands disappearing.?Ray McNiece

Edition details

• Publisher: Bottom Dog Pr
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0933087918
• ISBN 13: 9780933087910
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: McNiece Ray, Smith Larry