The Cambridge Companion to American Poetry Since 1945

This Companion follows the model of The Cambridge Companion to American Fiction After 1945 (RR 2013/343) in using post-1945 to the present as a framework through which to survey an area of literature. This reflects a shift in the academic study of literature where the framework offered by “the twentieth-century” is insufficient for surveys including later-20th and early-21st century literature. In introducing this volume, Jennifer Ashton discusses the merits of the post-1945 paradigm, and finds that it consolidates the narratives of the most-pronounced movements of late-20th century poetry.

Following the format of the Cambridge Companions series, this volume identifies...