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American Hybrid: A Norton Anthology of New Poetry

Cole Swensen (Editor),

David St. John

3.71 · Rating details · 338 ratings · 47 reviews

As Cole Swensen argues in the introduction to this comprehensive new anthology, the long-acknowledged "fundamental division" between experimental and traditional is disappearing in American poetry in favor of hybrid approaches that blend trends from accessible lyricism to linguistic exploration. The focus in American Hybrid is on the blend; the more than seventy poets feat ...more

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Paperback, 560 pages

Published March 30th 2009 by W. W. Norton Company

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May 30, 2009 Oscar rated it it was ok

Shelves: poetry

Could also be titled: Experiment for Experiment's Sake.

I only got through 2/3 of the book (has to go back to my local library) but what I did read was very mixed. My chief concern with this anthology is how it breaks down the tensions in United States Poetry to a "fundamental division" between narrative and experimental texts when all that is explored in this volume is the negotiation between variations in U.S. English non-linear narrative in contemporary academic poetry without putting any focu ...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Jesse De Angelis rated it it was ok

Shelves: poetry

I think the percentage of poems I liked was somewhere around maybe 10% - which isn't awful for any anthology this big - but the stuff I didn't like I really didn't like.

I feel like a square for articulating this, but I just don't think that there's very much actually happening in a lot of this "experimental" poetry. I sort of distrust that word in general - do these experiments provide results? what are they? showing your work is fine, but I guess I also want to know what conclusions these exper ...more

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Jul 25, 2009 Jordan rated it liked it

There's some good work here--and not the usual anthology pieces. Of course, that's the point of the book. I was surprised to like Jorie Graham's selection so much. As with any anthology of this scope, few people will have a palette broad enough to stomach everything. That is, some of the poems are simply not to my taste. As I read many of the poems, I think of the last line of A. D. Melville's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 1. Referring to Phaethon, Ovid writes: "Great was his fall, y ...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Tracie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poetry, school

I gave this book five stars because it really opened my eyes to a new way of looking at poetry. It was the text for a poetry class I took, and I learned a lot just from the few sections and pieces that we read. I tried my hand at writing with some of the styles presented, and I was introduced to poets I should have known but had never been introduced to. This is definitely not poetry we were taught to memorize in school, which is a bit refreshing as well as uncomfortable all at the same time. Go ...more

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Jun 09, 2009 Heather Gibbons rated it really liked it

Shelves: teaching

A timely, somewhat controversial, and much-needed anthology of many wonderful contemporary American poets. I don't always agree with the editors' selections, but I'm so glad this anthology exists. I'm tired of trying to teach from anthologies that claim to be contemporary yet contain mostly poets from the 1950s-60s-- and only a narrow, rather conservative slice of their generation at that. ...more

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Mar 15, 2010 CX Dillhunt rated it it was ok

disturbing introduction--it's inaccurate, simplistic, & opportunistic; a clever title, but doesn't hold up, needs much more thought; neither the collection itself nor the shabbily written intro/premise work...it seem that many poems are hybrids, but no one set out to write them, & the academic/avant-garde dichotomy is foolish as best to hold up as the "non-argument" ...more

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Jun 20, 2009 Ann Woodlief rated it it was ok

This collection of poetry (mostly current) is beyond me! I may be too old to "get it." The poets mostly teach in MFA programs, so I don't have a lot of hope for the future of poetry. Also, this is a Norton anthology, sure to be taught often in colleges. Sigh! ...more

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Feb 25, 2019 Savannah Wilson rated it it was ok

This book is the the perfect example of awful and pretentious poetry that makes nearly zero sense for the sake of seeming intelligent and deep. There were maybe a dozen poems out of the 500 pages of this book that I liked.

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Aug 12, 2008 Lesley rated it it was amazing

Best anthology I've seen. ...more

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May 26, 2009 Bonnie rated it did not like it

The worst use of the term "hybrid" ever! ...more

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Jan 25, 2017 Leigh Ann rated it really liked it

This mix of poems feels important. It chronicles a historical shift in American poetry that, according to the introduction, later generations (including mine) will have forgotten.

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Mar 08, 2020 Ophelia rated it really liked it

A truly beautiful anthology of poetry and prose,loved this and read over a two day period. Heartfelt poignant and engaging.,

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Sep 25, 2020 Erin Powe added it

not a fan of this stuff. Makes me love George Herbert even more.

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Apr 22, 2011 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: must-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Self described "anthology of new poetry" and it is. Many of the writers are those I admire the most. The collection is eclectic---or is that the intent of the authors, after all, to collect the vanguard writings out there?

I studied many of the writer's in this anthology. I studied with some of the writer's in this anthology. Love, love, Donald Revell...Stacy Doris has incredible work included. I'm happy to see that much of the new writing comes from the West Coast. The authors determined that t Self described "anthology of new poetry" and it is. Many of the writers are those I admire the most. The collection is eclectic---or is that the intent of the authors, after all, to collect the vanguard writings out there?

I studied many of the writer's in this anthology. I studied with some of the writer's in this anthology. Love, love, Donald Revell...Stacy Doris has incredible work included. I'm happy to see that much of the new writing comes from the West Coast. The authors determined that the writing "out there now" is a hybrid bringing in two distinct influences: Post-Avant and Third Wave...using two or more poetic forms/influences to create the Hybrid poem.

I'm happy to see a collection which includes what I would call experimental and avant-garde (as I believe avant-garde to a term that is timeless and evolves with time and history. It transcends all forms and content in regards to poetry consistently describing that which is absolutely NEW and shall we say, "edgy?" or leading in a unique manner from the rest of the group.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with "post-avant" How can one be Post-innovative? Nevertheless, the anthology has some of the finest examples of fascinating work. But it must be said that many of the Poets and writings are actually quite dated as far as when the various pieces were published. Some poetry dates back to the 60's, though it is still fresh and invigorating, the actual publication year may not technically address the Hybrid or Avant-Garde poetry that is being published today.

This is due to a decision on the part of the Editors to only include Poets who have already published 3 books. Those innovators that are still in Chapbooks and/or with only a book or two under their belt, are not included. I think that is a mistake. We miss many of the rising stars or comets in today's Poetry Scene.

But I do highly recommend this book as a must buy/read. The writers included led the charge to playfully engage word and thought with much affection and fearlessness and that is, after all, why we write. We write to feel, hear and roll the words in our mouth and off the tongue and gaze so happily at the form on the paper we cherish so much. It is an act of love to write poetry. This book is a lesson in Poetry as an organic meme that connects all humanity by creating itself in any manner playful or otherwise for us to savor and learn from. Where are we headed next? How is construction related to sustainability? How is the paper influencing the form? I am here to rave about Rebecca Solnit's recent release of the San Francisco map book as poetry. It is a stunning beautiful piece that one cannot afford to miss--just as this book is. I hope we see a 2nd Volume of American Hybrid with the new writers who have between one book and one chapbook published. We may see a very different collection then. Hooray, for my former teachers alive and dead! I guarantee reading this book will strain your neurotransmitters and synapses for electric metaphors in your new work--as it did mine.

I'm seeking more Stacy Doris and Rebecca Solnit & Hannah Weiner.Lyn Hejinian......its enough to make me want to lounge in a pool, swim slowly and languorously toward the poem as a living thing who will and does return one's feelings. and BTW, Happy to see my Alma Mater mentioned, CCA, as I think it is indeed a great place to learn the rules and how to break them lovingly. Done. et Not actually finished the book.....more like a reference book to me....you know, when you read a poem that makes you run and skip and smoke a cigarette outside in the breeze while you remember your own work very similar - well if it makes me run or breathe deeply, then I buy 2 copies for both sides of my house so I can find it at all times. There that's the story. One in the living room and one in the bedroom. Thank you for reading.
Elizabeth ...more

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Jan 02, 2017 Gagne rated it liked it

Shelves: techniques-of-poetry

While I haven't read every poem (yet), the selection made by my professor wasn't too favorable by me. It's highly inaccessible, but there were also poets I enjoyed and whose work I could access and read and enjoy and I feel that if a work is inaccessible, it is unenjoyable and unreadable. ...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Elizabeth Dubin rated it really liked it

The editors Cole Swensen and David St. John make the argument that American poetry in the 21st century is less marked by an experimental / traditional split that characterized the 20th century, but rather functions as a hybrid blending both impulses into new poetic territories. Hank Lazer wrote a book of poetry considering this in the 1990s called "DoubleSpace".

Swensen's introductory essay is a nice summary of contemporary American poetry and invokes (without citing) deleuzoguattarian theory (r The editors Cole Swensen and David St. John make the argument that American poetry in the 21st century is less marked by an experimental / traditional split that characterized the 20th century, but rather functions as a hybrid blending both impulses into new poetic territories. Hank Lazer wrote a book of poetry considering this in the 1990s called "DoubleSpace".

Swensen's introductory essay is a nice summary of contemporary American poetry and invokes (without citing) deleuzoguattarian theory (rhizome, immanence, transcendence). He offers a terrific explanation of this split in twentieth century poetry:
"This split (experimental/traditional) is more than a stylistic one; it marks two concepts of meaning: one as transcendent, the other as immanent. Thus, twentieth-century American poetry offers both a model of the poem as a vehicle for conveying thoughts, images, and ideas initiated elsewhere--a model that recognizes language as an accurate road map or system of referring to situations and things in the real word -- and a model of the poem as an event on the page, in which language while inevitably retaining a referential capacity, is emphasized as a site of meaning in its own right, and poetry is recognized as uniquely capable of displaying that" (xviii)

I'm not, however, convinced of the overarching argument of hybridity; I would like to be. First of all, this is definitely an academic hybridity (not a consideration of visual arts, technology, other cultural traditions, technology, self-publishing). Mainstream poets like Mary Oliver, Louise Gluck, Billy Collins, Donald Hall are not in this anthology. Poets, traditionally considered experimental, like John Taggart, John Ashberry, Susan Howe, Norma Cole, are here. Perhaps the argument they are making is more about relieving our language of dichotomies in the 21st century...that 21st century (and perhaps 20th century) poetry is more complicated and interesting than these boundaries: the experimental or "immanent" tradition in poetry (juxtaposition, rupture, fragmentation, open form) continues to explore traits usually aligned with more traditional work (linearity, narrative, firm closure, etc.) and vice versa. That the assemblage of a poem is traditional and experimental and linear and nonlinear and and and ... instead of either or. ...more

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May 05, 2013 Ann rated it really liked it

In their introductions, editors Swensen and St. John, both accomplished and forward-thinking poets, outline the contention that spurred this anthology: for a long time, poetry has been divided, or has divided itself, into two basic camps, traditional and experimental. In contemporary American poetry, the editors argue, and the poets collected here demonstrate, these distinctions no longer make sense, as poets now draw equally from both traditions, often in the same poem.

All of the poems in this ...more

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Apr 19, 2014 sculptcha rated it really liked it

anthologies are always so hard to rate. there were some snoozers and just utter crap, but there were some beauties that changed the way I see.

because these poems are so experimental, they seemed to me more about the process and experience of reading than finished works. most of the selections hinted at deeper meanings and more realized ideas somewhere beneath the surface, but hadn't quite figured out how to translate their visions. reading these poems feels like looking through artist sketchboo ...more

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May 08, 2012 Andrea Slot rated it really liked it

I used this for an upper level poetry workshop but was a little disappointed at the limitations of the book. I think many poems could be called "hybrid" in the contemporary poetry scene today, and so I think the book needed to be guided by a much clearer definition of just what a "hybrid" poem is. Then the poems chosen could have better reflected that clear definition. Instead the poems seemed to have been somewhat arbitrarily thrown together. I also felt the poems ultimately erred on the langua ...more

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Apr 27, 2009 Lindsay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poetry

This book is gorgeous. There are pages and pages of brilliance from multiple contemporary poets I have never even heard of (although it also has quite a few of my favorite poets as well). In my opinion, this anthology is the who is who of poetry for the next ten years. A great recommend for poetry fanatics, or anyone who wants a taste of what great contemporary poetry looks like.

This is my pick for best poetry anthology of the year. And the exterior is pretty. Which, let's face it, is a pretty b ...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Brinley rated it liked it

Probably would not recommend this to someone who is new to poetry, but for people like me who dig it & want a good perspective on what's hip w/the biggies right now, this was a pretty good starting point. Anthologies are not my favorite way to read poetry (prefer to read from a book the author composed, rather than selections from different works), & at times the selections seemed scattered. But still! Poetry is cool! Best read in chunks instead of all at once, I'd say. ...more

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Jun 30, 2014 Rupert rated it really liked it

Excellent anthology. I judge these types of books by how many new authors I discover through it who I want to explore further and this one hit the pay dirt. Not quite the magical mothership of the Anthology of New York Poets edited by Ron Padgett, but that one I read in my wild-eyed poetic youth and it's full of scribes who will live forever.
This book also has nice informative one page biographies/introductions to each author that gives the reader a good context for their work. ...more

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Apr 06, 2009 Dennis rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

The introduction itself is worth the price of this beautiful anthology of American poetry today. In the intro, Swensen sums up how the divisions of American poetry merged into what we have today--an eclectic mode of where tradition meets experimentation. Then the fun starts with an introduction of each poet and a sample of her or his work. A must!

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Apr 06, 2009 Juliet rated it really liked it

Shelves: poetry

I really dislike the cover of this book and hope the innards are much better.

Well, I only got about halfway through this collection before returning it to the library--and based on what I read, I'd give it about 3 1/4 stars.

Overall, it seemed a little too disembobied for the likes of me. I'm not a big fan of disembobied narratives. I'm too busy hyperventilating inside of bodies. ...more

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Aug 03, 2009 Shawn rated it really liked it

Last Monday I listened to David St. John, one of American Hybrids' co-editors, discuss the anthology and its origins at the Napa Writers Conference. He re-inspired me to explore these poems and poets. Diverse. Interesting. Baffling. Frustrating. Everyone is represented! The highlight, so far, is discovering a poem by Norman Dubie, "Of Politics, & Art." Wow. ...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Ian rated it it was amazing

Shelves: later-half-of-20th-century-poetry

The book is a must read for any poet or lover of poetry. The writers included in this anthology are than playing with form or structure. They are redefining the capacity of poetry. For writers, the book opens whole worlds of possibility in the voices that can be used, the way a poem can be presented, and many other things.

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May 04, 2009 John rated it it was amazing

I'm not finished with this book yet, but so far it is an incredible collection of contemporary poetry. The introduction is thought provoking and I enjoyed the entries from Robert Hass, Susan Stewart, and Donald Revell. ...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Andrew rated it it was ok

Hard to see what this anthology is a hybrid of, and even harder to see what's new about it. I enjoyed some of the work represented here, but the selection is pretty conservatively limited to older established poets, much of whose work was never new and is now pretty stale. ...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Drac329 rated it did not like it

Hybrid poems, ugh. I tried, I really did. But, it just feels like floundering about. I repsect the drive to be new and different. But sometimes too much change, makes it be something else, other than what it's meant to be. ...more

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Aug 15, 2017 Ron Henry rated it it was amazing

This is a great collection. I read through it quickly and admire most of the work in it. This last year I've been keeping it tucked away on the shelf of my nightstand, and open it randomly for inspiration. ...more

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About Cole Swensen

Cole Swensen

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Cole Swensen (b. 1955— ) in Kentfield near San Francisco, Swensen was awarded a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship and is the author of over ten poetry collections and as many translations of works from the French. A translator, editor, copywriter, and teacher, she received her B.A. and M.A. from San Francisco State University and a Ph. D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Santa ...more