A gift that cannot be refused : the writing and publishing of contemporary American poetry /

Biggs has made a genuine contribution to our understanding of American literary institutions. Her study is based on evidence gathered from 203 poets publishing in the period 1950-80. She scrutinizes where the poets published, how they published, and why they published. Her letters and questionnaires were framed to reveal attitudes and assumptions as well as facts, so we learn much about subjective factors: what women and minorities think about the establishment, what poets believe about the role of in-groups and friendships in literary success (especially where prizes are concerned). There are interesting statistics on the prestige factor: we find out which presses and magazines are most highly regarded. Anxieties are expressed about such recent institutions as the writing workshop and the "writing business" newsletters (the Associated Writing Programs bulletins and Coda, the magazine published by Poets & Writers, Inc.). The historical context provided by the first chapter, "The Publishing of Poetry Before 1950," is valuable. There is much to mull over in this work: tables, statistics--the hard evidence--and hundreds of interesting observations by individuals, all of whom are devoted to their craft, many of whom are a bit cynical about "po' biz." The reader may understand Emily Dickinson's reluctance to publish, an act she found as foreign as "Firmament to Fin." -B. Almon, University of Alberta