NYC From the Inside: NYC Through the Eyes of The Poets Who Live Here, George Wallace’s new anthology, offers 179 poets from New York.
From the press release:
“Full of marquee names and up-and-comers, the anthology traces elements of New York City’s past, chronicles its present and predicts its future, staking its claim on the city’s famous resilience, toughness and enduring appeal. The anthology’s official release (Blue Light Press, March 2022) corresponds with the two-year anniversary of pandemic-related lockdowns, World Poetry Day (March 21) and poetry month (April).
“George Wallace [pictuired, photo credit: Alexis Rhone-Fancher] , a five-decade fixture in New York poetry circles, is the book’s editor. Wallace is the Walt Whitman Birthplace’s writer-in-residence (since 2011), author of 38 poetry books, a creative writing instructor at Pace University and SUNY Westchester and Long Island’s first poet laureate (appointed Suffolk County Poet Laureate in 2002).
“ ‘New York remains a city on the ropes, its boroughs buffeted by fierce challenges from the pandemic’s economic effects,’ Wallace said. ‘But New York City’s poets pack a powerful punch. And in this anthology they’re saying, ‘Don’t call it comeback. New York City is captivating in good times and in bad, and it cannot fail.’
“Among the anthology’s notable contributors are Martin Espada, Eileen Myles, Quincy Troupe, Yusef Komunyakaa, Cornelius Eady, Andrei Codrescu, David Lehman, Vijay Seshadri, Anne Waldman and Marie Howe. Other major poets include Kim Addonizio, Ellen Bass, Charles Bernstein, Elaine Equi, Jane Hirshfield, Bernadette Mayer, Abiodun Oyewole, and Ron Padgett, plus late legends such as Robert Bly, Diane di Prima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Jack Hirschman.
“The poets in “NYC From the Inside” slice the Big Apple into a montage of meaningful moments, concurrently occurring across cultural clusters and neighborhood nooks. It’s an anthology full of good old, bad old days and urbanization that brings both the liberation of prosperity and the colonization that too often comes with gentrification. Why do New York City’s poets think the city will survive and thrive?
As Alicia Ostriker, New York State poet laureate from 2018 to 2021, puts it, “‘NYC From the Inside’ is a gorgeous compendium: 179 poets you have and haven’t heard of, generating almost 360 boisterous pages of pure joy and pure pain, comedy and memory, satire and lament, lovers and haters, pizza and drinks and drugs and pavements.”
CONTACT: Shea Communications, LLC. Daniel Axelrod, 978-855-8935. daxelrod@sheacommunications.com
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Author: The Best American Poetry
