The Definitive Anthology of Prose Poetry: A Cast-Iron Aeroplane That Can Actually Fly ed. Peter Johnson

“[A] solid collection of prose poems written by some of the best American practitioners of the genre. It also provides a good way of looking at the prose poem as a legitimate genre by focusing on what the poets themselves have to say [about their own work].… As the … commentaries suggest, hearing poets describe their writing processes can often situate their prose poems in a broader literary, historical, and cultural context, and may even help us to evaluate and appreciate their poems.” —Peter Johnson, from the Preface“A Cast-Iron Aeroplane is at once a fun and valuable anthology because of its variety of prose poems and its format—80 poems by 80 poets, with commentaries on the poems by the poets. As the editor Peter Johnson suggests in his preface, it is refreshing to encounter poets unafraid of discussing their own work, and Johnson has set up non-restrictive terms for discussion worthy of the genre itself. As for the poems themselves, no succinct summary will do them justice. Generi