•  Barbarese in his 1986 collection Under the Blue Moon focuses on everyday events and uses them to help depict and explain the world.

•  Recipient of the MacArthur Prize (often referred to as the Genius Prize), Eleanor Wilner’s 1997 collection, Reversing the Spell, contains previously published work along with new poems. Wilner has been called a lifelong civil rights advocate, and her poems reflect her vision of art and life.

•  Maxine Kumin’s Jack and Other Poems (2005) centers on nature, such as found around her New Hampshire farm, and on political history. The poet looks for answers to the bloodshed and political upheaval that bombards her in the news.

•  Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Mary Oliver has written a guide for budding poets, The Poetry Handbook (1994). Oliver explains...