[05/26/26] Pinsky, Robert: On Poetry, Culture, and Democracy

Princeton University Press, paperback

Publication Date: May 26, 2026

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"Robert Pinsky belongs to that rarest category of talents, a poet-critic."--Robert Lowell

Two important books of criticism by the Pulitzer Prize finalist and former U.S. poet laureate--now combined in a single volume with a new preface by the author

This book brings together two compelling works of criticism by Robert Pinsky-- The Situation of Poetry and Democracy, Culture and the Voice of Poetry, in which he makes a passionate and eloquent case for the vital role of poetry in a democracy. Poetry's place in the world may seem small, but its individual, human scale as a fundamentally vocal medium--in which poems are brought to life by one person at a time--gives poetry a unique importance in American and democratic culture and society.