Dickey, James (Vol. 1) - Dickey, James 1923–
Dickey, James 1923–
A National Book Award winner, Dickey is an American poet, novelist, and critic. He has served as consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 11-12.)
The subject of Dickey's new poetry [Poems: 1957–1967] is being in extremity, being stretched to the outer—or inner—limits of joy and terror. Dickey, at his best, is now able to give us the radically new experience in poetry that D. H. Lawrence superbly demonstrated to be America's most singular contribution to world literature….
In Dickey's poetry, the phrase is the unit that draws attention to itself, cutting imperceptibly across the surging unstoppable rhythm; rarely does the word or line interrupt the poem's flow to create a surprising locus of interest. Dickey's sound accrues from the swift adding-up of memorable phrases in the reader's ear, phrases that multiply into a trance-like, massive sound-aggregate;...
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