Verse and Worse

Steve McCaffery is the author of over twenty-five books of poetry and criticism. He has twice been awarded the Gertrude Stein Award for innovative poetry and twice shortlisted for the Governor General's Award. His poems have been published in more than a dozen countries. A long-time resident of Toronto, he is currently the David Gray Professor of Poetry and Letters, University at Buffalo. Darren Wershler is the author or co-author of ten books, most recently The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting (2007) and, with Bill Kennedy, apostrophe (2006). The former senior editor of Coach House Books, Wershler is an assistant professor of communication studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, faculty at the Canadian Film Centre Interactive Art and Entertainment Program, and a research affiliate of the IP Osgoode Intellectual Property Law & Technology program.

• Verse and Worse: Selected and New Poems of Steve McCaffery 1989-2009, selected with an introduction by Darren WershlerForeword Neil Besner Biographical Note Introduction Darren Wershler A Theory of the Lyric from Teachable Textsfrom Theory of Sediment: The Curve to Its Answer A Child's History of Rhetoric Caught as It Happensfrom The Entries A Few Donuts from an Hommagiste or: Bad Modernismfrom Some Versions of Pastoral Apologia Pro Vita Sua Coleridge in Calgary (ars poetica 4)Ephemera from Lag from An Effect of CellophaneOedipus Meets the Abstract Machine Suggestion but No InsultThe Dangers of Poetry (for Italo Calvino)The Lone Ranger in ArcadiaRestricted Translation with Imperfect Level Shift (after Basho)The Poem as a Thing to See The View from Here Tyrolean Night A Map Correlata for a CryptogramThe Logic of Six First Vico MeditationSecond Vico MeditationDigital Poetics Prior to MeaningAfterword Steve McCafferyAcknowledgements

"The quest for a wider audience for poetry may be quixotic, but this series makes a serious attempt to present attractive, affordable selections that speak to contemporary interests and topics that might engage a younger generation of readers. Yet it does not condescend, preferring to provide substantial and sophisticated poets to these new readers. At the very least, these slim volumes will make very useful introductory teaching texts in post-secondary classrooms because they whet the appetite without overwhelming." -- Paul Milton -- Canadian Literature, 193, Summer 2007, 03/2010