We would like to thank the Banff Centre Press for their enthusiasm and facilitation, as well as for awarding us a Fleck Fellowship and a stay in the Leighton Artists’ Colony during some of our editing work. Besides Steven Ross Smith, now retired from the Centre, the production has been sustained by his replacement, Robyn Read, the careful work of her assistant, May Antaki, and, during early stages, Naomi Johnston and Leanne Johnson. Thank you to Patrick Lawless for his tireless labour in sending this book to press.
We spent about a year exploring the work we are interested in, distilled from Britain and North America, somewhat frustrated by not having the time or space to document more of the current thinking around poetry. Ours is a momentary, geographically limited slice, but, we hope, worthwhile. We want to thank all our contributors, for their sincerity about the work and for their labour in sharing it. For their advice and generous discussion we are particularly grateful to Joseph Giardini, Carla Harryman, Natalie Knight, Roy Miki, and Joshua Clover. And especially to Pauline Butling and Sean O’Brien.