The relation of poetry to public policy is usually assumed to be tenuous or secondary. Poems are imagined primarily to express personal emotions; if political, they are seen as articulating positions already expounded elsewhere. In contrast, poetry can be conceived as an active arena for exploring the most basic questions about political thought and action.

The particular focus of the collection is on the ways that the formal dynamics of a poem shape its ideology; more specifically, how radically innovative poetic styles can have political meanings. In what way do choices of grammar, vocabulary, syntax, and narrative reflect ideology? How do the dominant styles of both oppositional and liberal political writing affect or limit what can be articulated in these forms?

This collection includes essays by Jerome Rothenberg, Ron Silliman, Susan Howe, Jerome McGann, Rosmarie Waldrop, Nathaniel Mackey, Bruce Andrews, Nicole Brossard, Erica Hunt, Jackson Mac Low and Charles Bernstein; shorter responses by P. Inman, James Sherry, Hannah Weiner, and Nick Piombino are also included. These essays were originally presented at the Wolfson Center for National Affairs of the New School for Social Research in New york. Most of the essays are accompanied by an edited transcript of the discussion that took place at the New School following the presentation.