American Diaspora: Poetry of Displacement

Diaspora constitutes a powerful descriptor for the modern condition of the contemporary poet, the spokesperson for the psyche of America. The poems in American Diaspora; Poetry of Displacement focus on the struggles and pleasures of creating a home-physical and mental-out of displacement, exile, migration, and alienation. To fully explore the concept of diaspora, the editors have broadened the scope of their definition to include not only the physical act of moving and immigration but also the spiritual and emotional dislocations that can occur-as for Emily Dickinson and other poets - even in a life spent entirely in one location. More than one hundred and thirty contemporary poets reflect and mediate, rage and bless, as they tell their own stories. In short, this is an anthology of American poetry that draws upon the sensitivity, tenderness, rebelliousness, patience, and spirituality that point to the future of our nation.

Virgil Suarez, professor of ereative writing at Florida State University, is the author of many books, most recently a collection of poetry entitled In the Republic of Longing. Ryan Van Cleave has edited three poetry anthologies and is the author of Say Hello. He is the Anastasia C. Hoffman Poetry Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Institute for Creative Writing.