posted 12-28-2020 03:20 PM            

Beyond Earth's Edge: The Poetry of Spaceflight is a trailblazing anthology of poetry that spans from the dawn of the space age to the imagined futures of the universe. The anthology offers a fascinating record of both national mindsets and private perspectives as poets grapple with the promise and peril of U.S. space exploration across decades and into the present. Tracing an arc of literary skepticism during the Apollo era and before to a more curious, and even hopeful, stance today, Beyond Earth's Edge includes diverse perspectives from poets such as Robert Hayden, Rae Armantrout, N. Scott Momaday, Adrienne Rich, Tracy K. Smith, Ray Bradbury, May Swenson, Pablo Neruda, and many other engaging poetic voices.

Beyond Earth's Edge vividly captures the violence of blastoff, the wonders seen by Hubble, and the trajectories of exploration to Mars and beyond through a wide array of lyric celebrations, somber meditations, accessible narratives, concrete poems, and new forms of science fiction. With the dawn of the New Space movement, continued interest in Mars, and renewed excitement about returning to the Moon, Beyond Earth's Edge is a giant leap toward bridging poetry and science.

• Paperback: 280 pages
  
• University of Arizona Press (October 6, 2020)
  
• ISBN-10: 0816539197
  
• ISBN-13: 978-0816539192

Space exploration, this book suggests, is frequently seen by the general public in the same way as some hard-nosed engineers might look at poems – something to be interested in until you "grow up" and get to grips with the "real things" in life. It's a theme this book explores and quickly demolishes...