Edward Foster wears many hats. He's the editor of Talisman, one of the leading U.S. poetry magazines. His critical works include studies of William Saroyan, the Beats, Jack Spicer, and a memoir of his friendship with the poet Ted Berrigan. He's the publisher of Talisman House Books and has edited or co-edited the anthologies Postmodern Poetry: The Talisman Interviews and Primary Trouble. He is a controversialist whose essay "Poetry Has Nothing To Do With Politics" startled many with its insistence that poetry "precedes intention, choice, and dialogue." His own poetry-romantic, grand, picaresque-marvelously moves between personal and world history with painful honesty and hard-won ease.

March 14, 1997