Editor's Corner

Robert Pinsky, First Things to Hand, poems: This chapbook serves as a kind of literate anthropology, but is also vintage Pinsky: casually erudite, charged with steady passion, a pleasure to read. (Sarabande)

Martín Espada, The Republic of Poetry, poems: The republic in Espada’s eighth collection is a glorious place of odes and elegies, memory and history, miracles and justice. (Norton)

Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land, a novel: In this triumphant follow-up to Independence Day, Frank Bascombe returns, acutely in thrall, as always, to life’s endless complexities. (Knopf)

Mary Gordon, The Stories of Mary Gordon, stories: These forty-one pieces, half of which are new or have never been collected, masterfully capture the nuances of modern life. (Pantheon)

Marilyn Hacker, Essays on Departure, poems: This book gathers twenty-five years of elegant, delectable work from eight books, as well as translations and new poems. (Carcanet)

Yusef Komunyakaa, Gilgamesh, verse play: With playwright Chad Garcia, Komunyakaa has refashioned a classic Sumerian legend into a vibrant and compelling verse play. (Wesleyan)

Maxine Kumin, Mites to Mastodons, children’s poems: A fascinating cornucopia of poems that exudes whimsical affection for all the creatures in our kingdom. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. (Houghton Mifflin)

Paul Muldoon, Horse Latitudes, poems: This magnificent new collection presents us with fields of battle and fields of debate in which we often seem to be at a standstill. (FSG)

Gail Mazur, Zeppo’s First Wife, poems: This splendid collection of new and selected works draws on Mazur’s four previous books, showcasing her poetic achievements and wry meditations on the everyday. (Chicago)