New at Heyday | About Heyday | Catalog | Magazines | How to Order | Contact Us
Back to Literary Anthologies | Back to Poetry

The Geography of Home:
California's Poetry of Place

Edited by Christopher Buckley and Gary Young
332 pages, (6 x 9)
Trade paper, ISBN: 1-890771-19-8, $18.95

An anthology of contemporary poetry devoted to California's many landscapes—rural and urban, emotional and physical

California is home to a wide variety of highly accomplished - in some cases, world-renowned - poets. Ripe with beauty, politics, and an endless diversity of people and cultures, California has nurtured poets born and raised on its soil, and drawn to it established writers from other places.

The Geography of Home brings together the works of seventy-six important figures in contemporary California poetry, including Philip Levine, Peter Everwine, Mark Jarman, Adrienne Rich, Dennis Schmitz, Carolyn Kizer, Gary Soto, Al Young, Kim Addonizio, Charles Wright, Carol Muske, David St. John, Larry Levis, Robert Hass, Gary Snyder, William Everson, Gary Soto, Luis Omar Salinas, Diane Wakoski, Garrett Hongo, Jane Hirshfield, and Brenda Hillman. Through the multiple selections for each poet, we can witness connections to California, visions of the place poets have at one time or other called home. Additionally, the poets have written introductory statements expressly for this anthology that will speak to their history in California, and to the influence of the state on their poetry.

In this long-awaited collection, California's unique and complex geography is examined, questioned, and ultimately celebrated, through forms as varied, dynamic, and compelling as the state itself.

Published in conjunction with the Clapperstick Institute

Reviews:

"The editors...did an excellent job creating a concise, rich volume of poetry a reader can go to and explore a world seemingly without limits."—Foreword Magazine

"A marvelously diverse pool of poets of many cultures and writing styles. The audience for this collection is limitless."—Today's Librarian

"A groundbreaking anthology of California poetry."—Good Times

"This collection is splendid...and whether you have only a few volumes of poetry or an entire library, this should be on your shelf. It is a book you will return to over the years for its beauty and to remind yourself of the complex glories of this place."—Santa Barbara News-Press

Contributing Poets

Kim Addonizio Francisco X. Alarcon Abigail Albrecht B. H. Boston Christopher Buckley Marilyn Chin Killarney Clary Wanda Coleman Glover Davis Juan Delgado Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Angle Estes William Everson Peter Everwine Kathy Fagan Dana Gioia Rigoberto Gonzalez Janice Gould Forrest Hamer Michael Hannon C. G. Hanzlicek James Harms Robert Hass Eloise Klein Healy Brenda Hillman Jane Hirshfield Garrett Hongo Lawson Fusao Inada Jean Janzen Mark Jarman Stephen Kessler Carolyn Kizer Larry Kramer Dorianne Laux Carol Lem Philip Levine Larry Levis

Shirley Geok-lin Lim Glenna Luschei Morton Marcus Jack Marshall Jerry Martien Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel James McMichael Robert Mezey Carol Muske Marisela Norte David Oliveira C. Mikal Oness Robert Peterson Adrienne Rich Sojourner Kincaid Rolle Dixie Salazar Dennis Saleh Luis Omar Salinas Sherod Santos Dennis Schmitz Maurina Sherman Maurya Simon Gary Snyder Gary Soto Roberta Spear David St. John Joseph Stroud David Swanger Amy Uyematsu Robert Vasquez Ion Veinberg Diane Wakoski M. L. Williams Sherley Anne Williams Charles Wright Chryss Yost Al Young Gary Young

About the Editors:

Christopher Buckley is chair of the creative writing department at the University of California, Riverside. His ninth book of poems, Fall from Grace, was published in 1998. For his poetry he has received a NEA grant, a Fulbright award to Yugoslavia, four Pushcart Prizes, and two Gertrude B. Claytor Awards from the Poetry Society of America. He is the editor of On the Poetry of Philip Levine: Stranger to Nothing, and has published a nonfiction book, Cruising State: Growing Up in Southern California. With Christopher Merrill, he edited What Will Suffice: Contemporary American Poets on the Art of Poetry. He lives in Lompoc with his wife, artist Nadya Brown.

Gary Young is a poet and artist whose books include Hands, The Dream of a Moral Life, and Days. His book Braver Deeds won the Peregrine Smith Poetry Prize. He has received fellowships from the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and his print work is represented in many collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Getty Center for the Arts. He edits the Greenhouse Review Press from Santa Cruz, California. His book No Other Life will be released in a new edition by Heyday in Spring 2005.