Antiphonal Swing: Selected Prose

Thirty-four essays, interviews and prose poems by this famous poet and translator explore theories of the contextual fabric of World poetry, and describe the development of his own unique poetic vision in a penetrating re-evaluation of the roots of consciousness. This volume includes selections from Eshleman's dialogues with James Hillman, as well as introductions from his two most important volumes of poetry. There is also a discussion of the narrative elements in Upper Paleolithic cave art; a provocative essay on the art of translation; and critical appraisals of such poets and artists as Gary Snyder, Leon Golub, William Bronk, Charles Olson and Allen Ginsberg.

"This selection of critical prose attests not only to the geographic, cultural, chronological and stylistic breadth of Eshleman's interests but also to his passionate and at times obsessional approach to 'what matters.'... The very antithesis of a scholarly handbook to the 'canon-making textbooks' he so abhors, this attractively edited volume of essays should be read, pondered, and even enjoyed... Provocative evaluations such as these are the very essence of responsible criticism."— Denver Quarterly

"Organized to highlight Eshleman's progress from defining his own sphere of freedom by shedding the conventions of thought and behavior that he had been raised with... The title suggests the yin/yang dialectic involving such pairs as poetry and prose, and the erotic and the artistic, by which [Eshleman's] ideas, style, and self developed." —The Small Press Book Review