Written by a leading authority on William Carlos Williams, this book provides a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to twentieth-century American poetry. The guide is designed to help students familiarise themselves with this period in literature and features: An exploration of the material, historical and social contexts in which twentieth-century poetry was produced, covering literary centers, little magazines, the Harlem Renaissance, sixties counterculture, and multiculturalism, among other issues. A biographical dictionary of major writers with extended entries on poets ranging from Robert Frost and Langston Hughes to Adrienne Rich and Rita Dove. Both poets who had an impact on the development of poetry during the twentieth century and prominent contemporary poets are represented. A section on key texts considering major works, such as The Waste Land, North & South and Ariel.A final section drawing out pertinent themes, such as poetry and politics, the relation of poetry to other arts, and the process of anthologizing at the end of the century.