Stand Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology

Webb, Charles Harper [Editor]

ISBN 10: 0877457956 / ISBN 13: 9780877457954

Published by University Of Iowa Press, 2002

Seller Inventory # 0877457956-3-26336562

Synopsis:

Witty, sexy, gritty, outrageous, emotional, hilarious, honest, courageous. What do these words describe? A growing movement in American literary circles: Stand Up Poetry. Over twenty years ago, Charles Harper Webb discovered a vibrant and invigorating poetry scene in southern California. Featuring some of America's best contemporary poets, this scene, according to Webb, ""showed insight, imagination, craft, philosophical depth, but most of all, it was funny, and it was fun."" Stand Up Poetry: The Poetry of Los Angeles and Beyond (1990) was the result of Webb's enthusiasm for this poetic genre. A decade later, the popularity of performance poetry, poetry slams, and poetry readings is on the rise, and Webb has expanded his anthology to include a greater sampling of poets from across the country. From Charles Bukowski to Billy Collins and Allison Joseph, the poets included in this collection are popular and emerging, classical and experimental, young and old; yet all exhibit the characteristics so important to Stand Up Poetry-humor, performability, accessibility, individuality. Most important, these poems are enjoyable when read silently or aloud, on the page or on the stage. Stand Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology is at its core a celebration of poetry offering readers a wonderful lesson in the power of words to entertain and inspire.

About the Author: A former rock musician and founder of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival, Charles Harper Webb is professor of English at California State University, Long Beach. He is the author of six books of poetry, including Liver, which won the 1999 Felix Pollak Prize. Reading the Water, which won the S. F. Morse Poetry Prize and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and, most recently, Tulip Farms and Leper Colonies.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Stand Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology
Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
Publication Date: 2002
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Good
Edition: 2nd Edition