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There are always innumerable people to thank when bringing a project of this scope to fruition; so many have provided support in my efforts, including students, colleagues, friends, and family members. My hope is that I will not be negligent in thanking them personally, and when they do finally see this book in print they will recognize the important part they played in its production. There are those, however, who deserve particular mention here for their integral and most special roles. They include Paul Cappucci, with whom I had many vital discussions regarding the idea behind this project and without whose initial support the project would have failed to launch, Marjorie Perloff, who guided me toward potential contributors and provided professional advice, the editors at Lehigh University Press, particularly Scott Gordon and Monica Najar, whose direction proved very valuable, Stephen Nacco, who graciously lent his time to give of his editorial talents, and Regina Betz, for her help with the book’s index. The contributors to The New American Poetry: Fifty Years Later must also be acknowledged, especially, as they provided the excellent work that makes up this volume and have exacted great patience in waiting for its arrival in print. Finally, I must recognize those closest to me—my wife, Tamara Kendig, and my children, Koren and Joshua, whose daily support, through the provision of spiritual and emotional sustenance, allowed for me to see this book to completion. I am forever grateful for their loving companionship.

I would also like to acknowledge the graciousness of many of the rights’ holders, estate executors, and publishing house representatives who understood the importance of this project and provided permissions for use of the work of the artists whom we have studied, especially Joan Blackman, Jill Turnbull, and Raymond Foye, Declan Spring from New Directions, and Victoria Fox from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. And my acknowledgments would not be complete if I did not recognize the very talented writers and editors who provided the opportunity for response, critics such as Ms. Perloff, Alan Golding, and Jed Rasula, each of the artists included in the original volume and those influenced by it, and Don Allen, who brought to us this treasured anthology some fifty years ago, a volume that will continue to invite response evermore.

Grateful acknowledgement is given to:

“Homage to a Government” from The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin by Philip Larkin, edited by Archie Burnett. Copyright © 2012 by The Estate of Philip Larkin. Introduction copyright © 2012 by Archie Burnett. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

Lines from the Selected Poetry of Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones. Copyright by Amiri Baraka. Reprinted by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.

Lines from The Collected Poems of Robert Creeley, 1945–1975, by Robert Creeley. Copyright © 2006 by University of California Press Books. Reprinted by permission by University of California Press Books.

“Poem Beginning with a Line by Pindar” and “This Place Rumord to have been Sodom” by Robert Duncan, from The Opening of the Field. Copyright © 1960 by Robert Duncan. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

“Excerpts” by Ezra Pound, from The Cantos of Ezra Pound. Copyright © 1934 by Ezra Pound. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation, Pollinger, Ltd., and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

“To a Poor Old Woman” by William Carlos Williams, from Collected Poems: Volume I, 1909–1939. Copyright © 1934 by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

Selected lines from various texts of William Carlos Williams in “‘Trying to Build on Their Elders’ Work’: The Correspondence of Donald Allen and William Carlos Williams” by Paul Cappucci. Copyright © 1959 by William Carlos Williams. Copyright © 1976 by The Estate of William Carlos Williams. Copyright © 2013 by the Estates of Paul H. Williams and William Eric Williams. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

Lines from The Collected Poems of Charles Olson: Excluding The Maximus Poems by Charles Olson. Copyright © 1997 by University of California Press Books. Reprinted by permission by University of California Press Books.

Lines from The Maximus Poems by Charles Olson. Copyright © 1985 by the Estate of Charles Olson. Reprinted by permission by University of California Press Books and the University of Connecticut Libraries. Works by Charles Olson published during his lifetime are held in copyright by the Estate of Charles Olson. Previously unpublished works by Charles Olson are copyright of the University of Connecticut Libraries. Used with permission.

“Medusa’s hair with snakes. Was thought, split inward” and “In white, she who bathed” by Kathleen Fraser, from il cuore: the heart—New & Selected Poems (1970–1995). Copyright © 1997 by Kathleen Fraser. Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press.

“7 Praises,” “Space,” “OK Everybody, Let’s Do the Mondrian Stomp,” “Looking at Some Petroglyphs in a Dry Arroyo Near a Friend’s House,” “City: Matrix: Bird: Collage,” and “Ready for Sunset” by Michael Heller, from This Constellation is a Name, Collected Poems 1965–2010, Callicoon, New York: Nightboat Books, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Michael Heller. Reprinted by permission of Nightboat Books.