This remarkable book offers a series of insights into a significant–and, until now, largely neglected–transatlantic poetic connection. Theresa Welford offers a convincing demonstration of just how much the New Formalist poets owe to their predecessors in the Movement–and just how intricate and influential were the personal and textual exchanges between them. Her argument is finely nuanced, acknowledging both the similarities and the differences between the American and British groups. Her analyses of individual poems are subtle, sensitive and rigorous; and her argument places the texts and poets she discusses in exactly the right historical and cultural contexts. This is a groundbreaking book about an international poetic dialogue; it will be a vital and indispensable resource for anyone interested in the recent past, present and future of poetry.
–Richard J. Gray, University of Essex Emeritus Professor and author of critical books including A History of American Literature, American Poetry of the Twentieth Century, A Web of Words: The Great Dialogue of Southern Literature, and After the Fall: American Literature Since 9/11.