Anatomy of an Anthology

Cracked Slab Books- the press that I run with William Allegrezza is in the final throes of completing a new Anthology of Chicago poetry. What is remarkable about this book is the sheer breadth of the writing and the variety of poets who are in dialogue with each other. Chicago tends to get short shrift in the world of poetry. New York and to a lesser degree San Francisco tend to consume most of the poetic oxygen but frankly they dont know what they are missing.

In this anthology we have poets that are varied in everyway-racially and Genderwise but also in social class origins. It is not fashionable to talk about social class in America and since most of the poets writing in the USA are middle class or better this aspect is ignored but it is important.

Chicago, unlike many other US cities is still a traditional place, a place where people are still in Unions and many still go to Mass and are Liberal without regret. We also do not have the mentality of New Yorkers of complete ambivilance or the scenesterness of San Francisco.

The result of this mix is a book that will be out in the fall with 36 poets most of whom have published books and who represent the best in American poetry from America's most alive city. To say I am proud to come from this community would be obvious but the fact that this community exists in a city with a few small presses and no top flight MFA is a testament to the power of poetry.