Beyond Ourselves

Catherine Gander is associate professor of American literature at Maynooth University, Ireland. Her authored books include Muriel Rukeyser and Documentary: The Poetics of Connection and Extending the Document: Contemporary Transmedial Poetics. Stefania Heim is associate professor of English at Western Washington University. She is the author of award-winning poetry collections A Table That Goes On for Miles, and Hour Book and has translated Geometry of Shadows: Giorgio de Chirico's Italian Poems and de Chirico's posthumous novel, Mr. Dudron. She is the co-founder of the journal Circumference: Poetry in Translation. Contributors: Daniel Borzutzky, Susan Briante, Catherine Gander, Stacy Hardy, Stefania Heim, Erika Meitner, Philip Metres, Jena Osman, Deborah Paredez, Khadijah Queen, Solmaz Sharif, and Nomi Stone.

List of Figures Acknowledgments Chapter 1 - Introduction Catherine Gander and Stefania Heim Chapter 2 - Dynamic Equilibrium of Word and World: What Muriel Rukeyser Knows About Poetry Stefania Heim Chapter 3 - The Breathers Daniel Borzutzky and Stacy Hardy Chapter 4 - On Milkweed, Fences, and Webs Susan Briante Chapter 5 - The Open Self: On Muriel Rukeyser's Poetics Khadijah Queen Chapter 6 - The Song Starts in My Body: On Muriel Rukeyser and the Forms of Poetry Philip Metres Chapter 7 - The Synthetic Dreams of Muriel Rukeyser's A Place to Live Jena Osman Chapter 8 - Resurrection Music Erika Meitner Chapter 9 - "The Faces Going Home into War": The Legacy of Muriel Rukeyser's Anti-Epic Poetics Deborah Paredez Chapter 10 - A Boy Among the Ways: A Poem-Essay on Mazes, Motherhood, and Witness Nomi Stone Chapter 11 - "Something Already in Ourselves, But Not Discovered": Learning from Muriel Rukeyser in Ireland Catherine Gander Afterword: How Else to End It Solmaz Sharif

"A wonderfully tessellated congregation of contemporary takes on one of the most significant polymaths of American modernism. This rousing, open-hearted collection demonstrates how Rukeyser's impressive oeuvre continues to inspire new instances of critical inquiry and creative expression." - Michael Leong, Robert P. Hubbard Assistant Professor of Poetry, Kenyon College