Inside the Poem

Inside the Poem is a book of poems and essays. It emphasizes the range of poetry in Canada and demonstrates numerous contemporary approaches to the reading of individual poems. The collection brings together 28 new poems (by such writers as Daniel David Moses, P.K. Page, Al Purdy, Lola Lemire Tostevin, Fred Wah, and Phyllis Webb) and 27 essays (by such writers as Diana Brydon, Manina Jones, Pauline Butling, George Woodcock, Sandra Djwa, and Stephen Scobie). The essays use a variety of reading techniques - historical, feminist, political, semiotic, biographical, linguistic, and structural - to discuss the language and impact of poetry, its imaginative force and social preoccupations. The collection (which honours the career of Donald Stephens) is a useful guide to the art of the poem in Canada and a valuable handbook for those who want to read poetry well.