SEPTEMBER 1, 1939: A Biography of a Poem. By Ian Sansom. Harper. 341 pages. $27.99. The subtitle for Ian Samson’s book “September 1, 1939: A Biography of a Poem,” is such an unexpected combination of ...

Sitting in a bar on 52nd Street, WH Auden read in the “folded lie” of a newspaper about the accession of Danzig to the Third Reich. The poem he would write about the events of that night is the ...

James McWilliams's biography details the life and work of poet Frank Stanford. Stanford, born in Mississippi and raised in Tennessee and Arkansas, died by suicide at age 29. His epic poem "The ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. With apologies to T. S. Eliot, December might be the cruelest month — at least for publishing. As imprints focus ...