The Secret of Poetry

First collection of literary essays by a founder and leading poet-critic of the New Narrative/New Formalist revival. Essays explore the relationship between poetry and religion, the legacies of Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, E. A. Robinson, Robinson Jeffers, and poetry by contemporaries such as Donald Justice and Jorie Graham.Mark Jarman’s honors for poetry include the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Poets’ Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Joseph Henry Jackson Award, and three NEA fellowships. Co-author of “The Reaper Essays” and co-editor of “Rebel Angels: 25 Poets of the New Formalism,” Jarman lives in Nashville and teaches at Vanderbilt University.