Shelf Life: Essays, Memoirs, and an Interview

Poets on Poetry

by Thom Gunn

The first collection of Anglo-American poet Thom Gunn's prose reflections on the poet's craft.

Genres: Poetry

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

Thom Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004), born Thomson William Gunn, was an Anglo-American poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement, and his later poetry in America, even after moving toward a looser, free-verse style. After relocating from England to San Francisco, Gunn wrote about gay-related topics—particularly in his most famous work, The Man With Night Sweats in 1992—as well as drug use, sex, and his bohemian lifestyle. He won major literary awards.

Reviews

[Cooper Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skipped some chunks—about Ginsberg and Duncan—but overall a good assortment of writings on interesting writers. The concluding interview is quite worthwhile and a nice contrast to too much contemporary practice of verse.