STORY OF A POEM MATTHEW ZAPRUDER

Publication date: April 04, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-951213-68-8

Dimensions: 5.5x8.25

Pages: 208

Hardback $28.00

World English (ex. UK) Rights:

Unnamed Press

Other rights: The Clegg Agency

Matthew Zapruder had an idea: to write a poem as slowly and intentionally as possible, to preserve its drafts, and record the painstaking, elusively transcendent stuff of its construction. It would be the capstone to a new collection of poetry, and a means to process modern American life in a time of Covid, mega fires, and sobriety. What Zapruder didn’t anticipate was that this literary project would trigger a deeply personal aspect as well: a way to resolve the unexplored pain and unexpected joys he was confronting in the wake of his son’s diagnosis with autism. The result is a remarkable piece of writing, one that explores not just what it means to be a poet, but also what it means to be alive during the Anthropocene—to be on this planet—during this extraordinary time.

By comparing the writing of a poem with his own tangled evolution as a son, husband, and father, Zapruder unfolds moments of his own life in the reflection of an increasingly uncanny world. With a wide range of reference points—from Celan, Li Bai, and Frank O’Hara to Whitman, Merwin, and Rupi Kaur—we join Zapruder on a poet’s journey that, in some alchemy of literature, becomes a journey of our own. Ultimately, the poet asks us to join with him in the search for a crucial answer. In his words: “What world can we imagine, and then make, where we all can live?”

With Story of a Poem celebrated poet Matthew Zapruder offers a personal, deeply unguarded examination of a poet’s eternal struggle to transform a moment of feeling into verse, as well as a subtle and enthralling roadmap to the practice of poetry and finding its threads in everyday life.

Praise for Matthew Zapruder

“Matthew Zapruder has a razor eye for the remnants and revenants of modern culture.”

The New York Times

“How fortunate, reader, that this book has found you. It found me too, and I spent days captivated by its pages, within which a whole life, and a whole poem, were slowly unfolding before me. Beating on every page is the heart of a father and the heart of a poet. Written with a bright, nimble clarity that lets deep complexities shine, this book is a glimmering candle in darkness.”

—Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Author of A Ghost in the Throat

“Reading ‘Father’s Day’ not only made me feel less alone, it also reminded me how great, in times of confusion, frustration, and shared anxiety, is our human need for tenderness, for forthright yet gentle speech, and for unashamed sweetness.”

Washington Post

Matthew Zapruder is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently Father’s Day, from Copper Canyon, as well as Why Poetry, a book of prose. He is editor at large at Wave Books, where he edits contemporary poetry, prose, and translations. From 2016-7 he held the annually rotating position of Editor of the Poetry Column for the New York Times Magazine. He teaches at Saint Mary’s College of California and served as guest editor for Best American Poetry 2022. He currently lives in Northern California’s Bay Area.