June 3, 1998
Contact: Timothy McKernan, (619) 594-2588
Containing Multitudes: Book by SDSU Professor Examines Modern Poetry
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Whitman’s famous lines, written in the middle of the 19th century, are a perfect description of American poetry as the 20th century comes to a close. The multicultural explosion of the last several decades has created a body of work that does indeed contain multitudes: plumbing the emotional depths of self and society as well as exploring issues like race, gender and sexual orientation more freely and candidly than ever before.
“Containing Multitudes: Poetry in the United States Since 1950” by San Diego State University English professor Fred Moramarco and William Sullivan, professor of English at Keene State College in New Hampshire, is the first overview of American poetry since the literary revolutions of the late fifties. The works of a diverse collection of writers including Allen Ginsberg, Lawson Fusao Inada and Sylvia Plath are presented in a societal and artistic context, encouraging the reader to appreciate both the poet and the poetry.
Fred Moramarco is editor of the annual journal “Poetry International” and co-editor of “Men of Our Time: An Anthology of Male Poetry in Contemporary America.” He is also a co-author of “Modern American Poetry, 1865-1950.” To arrange an interview with Dr. Moramarco, or to obtain a review copy of “Containing Multitudes,” please call (619) 594-2588.