Conjunctions: 43, Beyond Arcadia

The contemporary innovative poetry world is as lively and provocative today as at any time in the last century. Over the course of more than two decades, Conjunctions has published the work of hundreds of highly original poets, both young and established. For issue no. 43, Beyond Arcadia, Conjunctions has invited 12 prominent and respected writers to undertake the difficult task of selecting their favorite young writer, one they feel is destined to become a major voice in American poetry. Among the 12 selectors are prize-winning poets including Jorie Graham, Ann Lauterbach, Lyn Hejinian, Peter Gizzi, Fanny Howe, Michael Palmer, Robert Creeley, John Ashberry, Martine Bellen, Sandra Cisneros, Forrest Gander and Nathaniel Mackey. Each of the young poets chosen--whose work has not yet enjoyed wide exposure--will be represented by a chapbook-length selection of new work with an introduction from their mentor/selector. Beyond Arcadia introduces a cross-selection of unique voices from among many in the talented new wave of poets at work today. This groundbreaking issue will also feature a previously unpublished play by filmmaker John Sayles; new fiction by John Barth, Ben Marcus, Jon McGregor, Rick Moody, and many others; as well as a previously unpublished masterpiece of Russian surrealism, A Certain Quantity of Conversations Or, The Completely Altered Nightbook, a play by Aleksandr Vvendensky.