The Meaning of Form in Contemporary Innovative Poetry

"Form matters. Robert Sheppard shows not only how but why that is in some of the most challenging and inventive poems of the time (and with a specific focus on British poetry). The Meaning of Form in Innovative Contemporary Poetry is a descriptive catalogue of the state of poetry today that opens up to the possibilities of the poetry of tomorrow." (Charles Bernstein, Donald T. Regan Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania, USA) "This book is an informed and subtle intervention in current theoretical debates about form in poetry by one of the leading critics of contemporary British innovative poetry. Engaging with areas of poetry not normally included in such theoretical discussions, Robert Sheppard shows that they have a precise relevance to these debates. A significant contribution to the aesthetic turn in contemporary criticism, and a necessary work for anyone interested in contemporary British poetry." (Robert Hampson FEA, FRSA, Professor of Modern Literature, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)

This study engages the life of form in contemporary innovative poetries through both an introduction to the latest theories and close readings of leading North American and British innovative poets.

This study engages the life of form in contemporary innovative poetries through both an introduction to the latest theories and close readings of leading North American and British innovative poets. The critical approach derives from Robert Sheppard’s axiomatic contention that poetry is the investigation of complex contemporary realities through the means (meanings) of form. Analyzing the poetry of Rosmarie Waldrop, Caroline Bergval, Sean Bonney, Barry MacSweeney, Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Kenneth Goldsmith, Allen Fisher, and Geraldine Monk, Sheppard argues that their forms are a matter of authorial design and readerly engagement.