Leading poet Dana Gioia offers bold and insightful essays on poetry's changing place in contemporary US culture. With the clarity, insight and wit that made his 1992 work Can Poetry Matter? one of the most important books on literature and modern-day society, Gioia tests the pulse of poetry. He looks at how it can find its most relevant incarnation, exploring contemporary oral traditions of rap and slam. An essential book for anyone who cares about the future of poetry.