“This book is a dynamic introduction to the avant-garde of the past 150 years, as well as to Perloff’s work. Bayot’s judicious selections include discussions of manifestos, conceptualism, language and translation, Robert Lowell, poetry and pedagogy, futurism, conflicting traditions, and the practice of criticism. Perloff quotes writers she admires with ease (particularly Ezra Pound, Frank O’Hara, and David Antin). Favourite axioms (‘do not re-tell in mediocre verse what has already been done in good prose’) recur, giving the reader a clear understanding of the thought that has influenced her. The collection reveals Perloff at her best, as she ‘debates the role of various poetic movements and poets, as well as the larger relationship of poetry to culture.’ She is a gifted conversationalist with a remarkable awareness of her lifetime’s work, and a gratifying willingness continually to reassess her own ideas.”

Rona Cran | Times Literary Supplement

“A compelling work, enthralling to read and filled with profound insight, provocations, and an awe-inspiring range of engagements and knowledge. Poetics in a New Key is the perfect companion to Perloff’s many books, but, more than that, it is an ideal introduction to her thought.”

Charles Bernstein, University of Pennsylvania | author of "Recalculating"

“Lively, engaging, and energetic. Perloff is the English-speaking world’s preeminent advocate for the poetic avant-garde, and in this book, she vigorously argues for the new and the innovative, and blasts the boring and conventional. Because of her exceptional candor and clarity, because of the depth of her convictions and knowledge, this book has unusual force. She cogently advances her positions, mixing firebrand assertion with robust humor. As an interviewee, she is charmingly aggressive, unflinchingly polemical, and disarmingly frank. Her confidence in her opinions is unwavering. These riveting pages are full of axioms, provocations, and manifesto-like pronouncements. Funny, robust, cantankerous, pointed, and amazingly vivid interviews and essays.”

Jahan Ramazani, University of Virginia | author of "Poetry and Its Others: News, Prayer, Song, and the Dialogue of Genres"

“Perloff is a superlative speaker and conversationalist; her off-the-cuff comments are powerfully insightful and energizing, and she is superb in a roundtable setting, where she can respond dynamically to others’ ideas and arguments. Poetics in a New Key will finally give a wider audience access to Perloff as a thinker and critic who excels in these more casual and spontaneous settings. Its interviews make for absorbing, even compulsive reading.”

Brian M. Reed, University of Washington | author of "Nobody’s Business: Twenty-First Century Avant-Garde Poetics"