ELLEN BRYANT VOIGT EXPLORES POETIC LANGUAGE IN THE NEWEST ADDITION
TO THE ART OF SERIES, EDITED BY CHARLES BAXTER
A series on writing that specializes in sharp-witted lucidity
With intelligence and precision, Ellen Bryant Voigt parses out the deft and alluring shape of poetic language in
The Art of Syntax. Through brilliant readings of poems by Bishop, Frost, Kunitz, Lawrence, and others, Voigt examines the signature musical scoring writers deploy to orchestrate meaning. “This structure—this architecture—is the essential drama of the poem’s composition,” she argues.
The Art of Syntax is an in-dispensable book on the writer’s craft by one of America’s best and most influential poets and teachers.
The Art of Syntax: Rhythm of Thought, Rhythm of Song is part of the
Art of series, a line of books by important authors on the craft of writing, edited by Charles Baxter. Each book examines a singular, but often assumed or neglected, issue facing the contemporary writer of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. The
Art of series is meant to restore the art of criticism while illuminating the art of writing.
PRAISE FOR ELLEN BRYANT VOIGT:
“One of our most acute poetic thinkers.”
—EDWARD HIRSCH
“Since Randall Jarrell, poets have bemoaned the lack of a true poet-critic, a sensibility at once commonsensical, laconic, and appropriately imaginative. Now we have Ellen Bryant Voigt, who offers Jarrell’s combination of wit and gravity—as well as his critical urgency in choosing subjects of scrutiny.”
—CAROL MUSKE-DUKES
