"With 1,000-plus entries (some 250 of which are new), this edition expands and updates the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics , with a more detailed focus on international traditions not often included in English-language reference tools. . . . This volume will be a valuable addition for universities, and for colleges with MFA programs in creative writing."
There is a wealth of interest and debate in this impressive book. It is pretty hefty and not for reading on a train but can be dipped into or the specific topics studied in individual detail.
Weyfarers - Stella Stocker
[I]t is a browser's gem. This fully indexed Encyclopedia is user friendly and of immense interests to poets, editors, scholars and everyone interested in poetry. With the wealth of information it contains it is great value for money and in my opinion is far more reliable than researching on line.
Poetry Cornwall - Les Merton
Roland Greene and associates have done a tremendous job in revising Terry Brogan's and Alex Preminger's magisterial 3d edition of this classic work. It's a vast compendium of poetic lore, terminology, technique, and history with an astutely chosen set of contributors. At 1664 pages, I am still cruising the book and wishing I had the digital edition as well. This is a work to dip into at any page for a wealth of detailed and often absorbingly arcane information. PEPP is up to date, with entries for new poetic developments right up to the present (yes, Lavinia, Conceptual poetry, Kootenay school, and Flarf have entries, along with my own précis on 'absorption,' and new entries on antropofagia, codework, cognitive poetics, Xul, Sanskrit poetry, and many more). The index alone is worth the price of admission. . . . As a kid (and as the kid I still am) I read through dictionaries and encyclopedias, a to z; this book holds that same kind of transfixing fascination. It also shows how new encyclopaedias (I prefer that spelling) can remain relevant in the wake of Wiki. Each of the entries is signed and bears the stamp of its author. While scholarly and descriptive in tone, the book has a thousand different points of view of what poetry is and how it works, hundreds of contradictory, or at least competing, programs. As with the best compendia of odd facts and magical formulae, the wild swerve from one entry to the next offers delight upon delight.
Lemon Hound - Charles Bernstein
[T]his encyclopedia is a bargain for anyone seriously interested in poetry. . . . This Princeton Encyclopedia, for all its contemporaneity, has the bonus of several hundred years' scholarship behind it. . . . The entries . . . are scholarly and extremely wide-ranging. All kinds of poetry are . . . taken seriously and the traditions of all major languagesand many minor onesare treated in considerable detail.
You can't say enough about The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics , because it has already said just about everything. It is an encyclopedia, after all, but more than that, it is a thoroughly illuminating text that contains everything a poet or critic might need to know, from Accentual-Syllabic Verse to Zulu poetry. To put it simply, it is the most fascinating book on poetics published this year.
This belongs on the desk of anyone teaching creative writing or literature, and anyone over the age of twelve who is serious about poetry.
[O]ne of the greatest literary reference works in all of poetry. . . . The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is an excellent, worthy addition to anyone's collection.
BookPleasures - John Cowans
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is a stupendous work. . . . What makes it unique and extremely valuable is the exhaustive entries. . . . Running into 1639 pages, in single volume, this is a huge contribution to the study of poetry and poetics. Any student of literature and linguistics should have a copy as it introduces the reader to every nuance of poetry, in its finest. A marvelous work indeed.
Organiser - Vaidehi Nathan
[W]orthy. . . . [M]onumental.
Town Topics - Stuart Mitchner
This is a huge reference work, and the publicity people at Princeton are justifiably proud of it. Even though this book is about poetry, it is surprisingly complete. For example; I love how the book discusses the poetry of a people and ties it to their historyI mean, I could read this book for the historical context of a particular body of ethnic or linguistic poetry alone, but of course, there is plenty of poetry in here, too. If you are a poet, a student of poetry or if you (like me) love reading poetry, then this is, without any doubt, the book for you! It certainly would make an excellent gift for the poet, scholar or poetry lover in your life.
GrrlScientist - Devorah Bennu
Praise for previous editions: This is one book that genuinely deserves to be called 'essential.'
Praise for previous editions: It is all it sets out to be, accurate, informative, inclusive, illuminating, invaluable, with entries on Estonian Poetry, Poulter's Measure, Poetic Madness, and even OULIPOand I thought I could catch them out there .
Threepenny Review - Thom Gunn
Praise for previous editions: Provides one-stop shopping for the needs that formerly demanded a round of reference roulette among a handbook of poetic forms, a dictionary of literary terms, and a manual of rhetoric.
Praise for previous editions: A reference work of distinction which all who work in the field of literary studies will find extremely useful if not, indeed, indispensable.
Praise for previous editions: As essential for any working poet as a good dictionary.
Praise for previous editions: The standard source for information on the history and criticism of poetry and poetic technique and theory.
Praise for previous editions: An extraordinarily helpful volume that will save untold hours of reference time for the student, the general reader, and the literary scholar.
This belongs on the desk of anyone teaching creative writing or literature, and anyone over the age of twelve who is serious about poetry. Barbara Berman
[O]ne of the greatest literary reference works in all of poetry. . . . The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is an excellent, worthy addition to anyone's collection. John Cowans
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is a stupendous work. Dr Vaidehi Nathan
[W]orthy. . . . [M]onumental. Stuart Mitchner
This is a huge reference work, and the publicity people at Princeton are justifiably proud of it. Even though this book is about poetry, it is surprisingly complete. For example; I love how the book discusses the poetry of a people and ties it to their historyI mean, I could read this book for the historical context of a particular body of ethnic or linguistic poetry alone, but of course, there is plenty of poetry in here, too. If you are a poet, a student of poetry or if you (like me) love reading poetry, then this is, without any doubt, the book for you! It certainly would make an excellent gift for the poet, scholar or poetry lover in your life. Devorah Bennu
Praise for previous editions: It is all it sets out to be, accurate, informative, inclusive, illuminating, invaluable, with entries on Estonian Poetry, Poulter's Measure, Poetic Madness, and even OULIPOand I thought I could catch them out there . Thom Gunn
[I]t is a browser's gem. This fully indexed Encyclopedia is user friendly and of immense interests to poets, editors, scholars and everyone interested in poetry. With the wealth of information it contains it is great value for money and in my opinion is far more reliable than researching on line.-Les Merton, Poetry Cornwall There is a wealth of interest and debate in this impressive book. It is pretty hefty and not for reading on a train but can be dipped into or the specific topics studied in individual detail.-Stella Stocker, Weyfarers Ever since its first publication in 1965, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics has oft been referred to as the ultimate, authoritative reference with regards the study of poetry. With its menagerie of terms, concepts, schools, movements and international tradition(s), contained herein is an almost one-of-kind reference book. It's so goodit makes for interesting and stimulating reading in its own right; and there really aren't many reference books one can say that about!-David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews The Princeton Encyclopedia is a superb achievement, an essential item for university libraries supporting literature courses and I would strongly urge public libraries to also purchase a copy.-Linda Kemp, Reference Reviews
Ever since the first edition of this work, in 1965, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has been a comprehensive and authoritative reference work valued by students, teachers, and poets. Its intention has been to be worldwide in scope, concerning the "history, theory, technique and criticism of poetry from the earliest times to the present." Entries have included terms and concepts; genres and forms; periods, schools, and movements; the poetry of nations, regions, and languages; and poetry in relation to other cultural forms, disciplines, and social practices such as linguistics, religion, and science. This new edition edited by Greene (English & comparative literature, Stanford Univ.) and others includes 1100 entries that range from brief overviews to in-depth essays of 15,000 words, including 250 new entries and many revised and "reconceived" ones. Among the new entries are discussions of the Black Mountain school; écriture; fractal verse; gay, lesbian, and Nuyorican poetry; poiësis; poetry slams; Bosnian poetry; popular and modern poetry of China; and much more. The bibliographies included with each essay are also fully updated. Contributors come from major colleges and universities worldwide. VERDICT This edition will be welcomed by all readers of poetry. It provides so many new essays and updates, and, finally, has an index, which is useful as the Encyclopediadoes not include entries on individual poets, but rather discusses them in the context of the larger topics to which they are related. Also beneficial is the new page layout that is easier to read and more conducive to browsing, Highly recommended. —Marcia Welsh, Dartmouth Coll., Hanover, NH