Lots of City Poets:A Review of Essays on the “Second Generation” New York School

Abstract

Don't Ever Get Famous: Essays on New York Writing after the New York School (Champaign, IL: Dalkey, 2006), edited by Daniel Kane, is representative of the revival of interest in the early 1960s poets living and writing on the Lower East Side of New York in the wake of the New York School and leading into Language Poetry and the Black Arts Movement. Attention is primarily focused on the varied aesthetics and social contexts of a range of poets and publications such as African-American poets in Umbra, the Deep Image school, the "second generation" New York School poets in C, and the movement beyond the bounds of poetry into Happenings. The anthology is recommended for both those not familiar with this scene and those who are who would like specific reminiscences and critical reappraisals of individuals and groups.