Twenty-two notable poets (including Andrew Hudgins, Maxine Kumin, David St. John, and Mark Strand) offer translations of a poem by a poet they find significant, along with a short biography of the poet and an essay. But there's a surprise-the poet and poem presented are invented by the book's 22 contributors!

"The Imaginary Poets" presents exceptional work from major poets who delight in assuming a whole new persona. But the book's ultimate goal is to explore the nature of creativity: What is it to make a poem? To make up a poet? To "translate" a work-is that rewriting or writing? What about translating a work that never existed? What does it mean if you create the creator?

In the tradition of Pessoa and Borges, "The Imaginary Poets" delves delightedly into the very act of invention with a wink, a smile, and tremendous respect for the art.

Alan Michael Parker is the author of three books of poems, a novel, and has edited two anthologies. He graduated from Washington University and received his MFA from Columbia. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from the Arts & Science Council and the MacDowell Colony, as well as the 2003 Lucille Medwick memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. His poems appear in "The New Yorker," "The New Republic," "The Paris Review," and others. His prose appears regularly in "The New Yorker" and "The New York Times Book Review." He is director of the creative writing program at Davidson College and performs and lectures widely.