"The Best American Poetry would be an offensive maneuver in that battle, a 'publishing experiment' committed to expanding poetry's audience, honoring aesthetic excellence, and resisting the ideological mandate of politics."
"Harm can come from well-meaning efforts to turn poetry into an instrument for social change."
"On the back of the already recognizable anthologies that served as its model, The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Essays, The Best American Poetry was an immediate hit, selling out of its first three printings before the publication date."
David Lehman sought a national platform for American poetry after an earlier anthology project failed. He perceived a flourishing in American poetry despite unfavorable conditions in university English departments. Lehman quit a tenure-track teaching post, rejecting the turn toward literary theory in the 'academic ghetto.' He portrayed the struggle for poetry's survival as a central cultural conflict and positioned The Best American Poetry as an offensive publishing experiment to broaden readership, honor aesthetic excellence, and resist instrumentalizing poetry for political ends. Scribner published the first volume in 1988, guest-edited by John Ashbery, and it sold out initial printings amid shifting institutional conditions.
#anthology-publishing #contemporary-american-poetry #literary-culture-and-politics #creative-writing-programs
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