The Matter of Poetry

Abstract

Focusing on contemporary long poems that use documentary sources, Michael Leong's Contested Records theorizes a genre he names "documental poetry." Taking a "cultural formalist" approach to these works, Leong brings rigorous attention to the forms, sources, and poetic activities of some of the most controversial recent poems including Amiri Baraka's "Somebody Blew Up America" and Kenneth Goldsmith's "The Body of Michael Brown." Ultimately, Leong uses documental poetry to argue persuasively about the nature, use, and relevance of poetry to social, political, and cultural life.