Poetry is vital to language and living. This anthology celebrates 50 years of Copper Canyon Press publications, one extraordinary poem at a time. Since its founding in 1972, Copper Canyon has been entirely dedicated to publishing poetry books; here Executive Editor Michael Wiegers invites press staff and board—past and present—to help curate a retrospective. The result is a collection of beloved poems from books spanning half a century: representing Pulitzer Prize-winning books, debut collections, works in translation, and rare books from Copper Canyon’s early days. This book is a tribute to Copper Canyon poets and readers everywhere, because, as Gregory Orr writes, “Certain poems / In an uncertain world— / The ones we cling to: // They bring us back.”
ISBN: 9781556596704
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781556596629
Format: Paperback
won’t you celebrate with me
Lucille Clifton
from The Book of Light, 1992
won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
Reviews
“Copper Canyon Press may be a little nonprofit publisher far from New York, but over the last 50 years, its editors in Port Townsend, Washington, have shaped and elevated American poetry. . . . Relying on recommendations from poets, press board members and current and former colleagues, editor Michael Wiegers has selected poems from hundreds of collections published by Copper Canyon over the years. You’ll find here work. . . a fount of poetic genius, all elegantly laid out in a large-format paperback book.” —Washington Post
“A sweeping new selection of poems from the press’s fifty-year history. The collection includes beloved poems from books spanning half a century, representing Pulitzer Prize-winners, debut collections, works in translation, and rare titles from Copper Canyon’s early days.” —The Rumpus
“This dazzling retrospective features rare material from the 1970s as well as work from more-recent collections and everything in between.” —Alta
“This collection is rich and welcoming and it seems to contain something for everyone.” —Orange County Register