Swirl & vortex : collected poems / Larry Levis ; David St. John, editor ; James Ciano and L. A. Johnson, associated editors.

Author/creator Levis, Larry author.
Other author St. John, David, 1949- editor.
Other author Ciano, James, contibutor.
Other author Johnson, L. A. (Poet), contributor.
Format Book
PublicationMinneapolis, Minnesota : Graywolf Press, [2026]
Copyright Date©2026
Description557 pages ; 24 cm
Subjects

Variant title Swirl and vortex
Contents Wrecking crew (1972) -- The afterlife (1977) -- The dollmaker's ghost (1981) -- Winter stars (1985) -- The widening spell of the leaves (1991) -- A hotel on fire (from Elegy [1997], the darkening trapeze [2016], and unpublished poems)
Abstract "The poetry of Larry Levis increasingly occupies a legendary place of reverence among poets and readers--the spell of his reputation only continuing to widen in the thirty years since his death. From the briefer lyrics and deep image-making of his early books to the long sequences and operatic narratives of his last works, Levis's poems have an unmistakable signature, a way of expressing the sweep of history, perception, and heartbreak. Over his career, his poetic lines broadened to accommodate the cinematic aperture of his observations on American empire, poverty, landscape, migrant workers, political violence, addiction, and art. Levis's expansive poems came to resemble the interconnecting patterns just discernible in the eddies of a stream or the leaves circling in a wind. Swirl & Vortex at last makes all of Levis's poetry available in one definitive volume. This collection includes the five books published in Levis's lifetime, a brilliant reconfiguration of Levis's posthumous books, and unpublished late poems, edited and with an afterword by David St. John. To trace Levis's poetic development into his extraordinary "late style of fire"--cut short by his early death--is one of the singular experiences in contemporary poetry. Swirl & Vortex is an essential collection by one of the great poets of the end of the twentieth century, and a transformative work spiraling out toward our future"-- Provided by publisher.
Issued in other formOnline version http://id.loc.gov/entities/relationships/onlineversion Levis, Larry, 1946- Swirl & vortex Minneapolis, Minnesota : Graywolf Press, 2026 9781644453728
Genre/formpoetry.
Genre/formPoetry.
Genre/formPoésie.
LCCN 2025032450
ISBN9781644453711 hardcover
ISBN1644453711
ISBNepub