THE POEM

The Poem attempts to answer several questions: what is a poem? In what way is its use of language distinct? What conditions allow it to arise, and what is its cultural purpose? And how, exactly, do poems work? Part polemic, part technical treatise and part meditat ion, The Poem is an ambitious contemporary ars poetica. Paterson looks at the writing, transmission and reading of poetry with wit a nd scholarly flair, drawing together literary analysis, linguistics, metaphysics, psychology and cognitive science in a thorough exp loration...[Read more]