SOURCE: “Rattling the Chains of Free Verse,” in Times Literary Supplement, April 30, 1999, pp. 32-3.

In the following excerpted review, Quinn discusses the origin and development of Language poetry and offers a positive assessment of Bernstein's contribution, including that in My Way.

L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E equals what? The fact that a plethora of publications are still asking that question, twenty-one years since the poetics journal with the infamously equalizing masthead (signifying both the political goal of equality that galvanized most of its poets, and the close scrutiny of the sign itself, that marked them all) was first published, sixteen years since it ceased publication, and almost thirty years since the constellation of poets originally associated with Language poetry began to meet and circulate their work, is testament to the impact, abiding interest, and the still potent challenge thrown down to traditional literary procedure by...