Nite soil

Author: Kenward Elmslie

Publisher: Granary Books (2000)

Kenward Elmslie’s way with words cuts a singular path through a polymath variety of forms. This collection of poems and ephemera treats language sometimes as paint to be thrown on canvas, sometimes as a series of fascinatingly odd concrete objects and throughout, Elmslie takes full advantage of the word's status as an infinite well of signification. Elmslie's work navigates between the comic and the serious, between the personal and the political, and between the oblique and the straightforward so deftly that the reader is left breathless. Nite Soil is yet another great book by one of today's leading radical poets. Jukebox hitlet sung by Nat King Cole. Ahead-of-their-time lingo works: The Champ, poem, City Junket, play. Balloons for Cartoons by Joe Brainard. Puréed anthropological tales of fantasy drinking establishments: 26 Bars. Quirky surreal poetry mosaics (Routine Disruptions) that prompted Michael Silverblatt, host of NPR’s "Book Worm" program to finger Kenward as “Hands down, my favorite contemporary poet.” Elmslie’s verbal swath includes The Grass Harp (Broadway cult-fave musical) and annum 2000, Postcards on Parade, composed by Steven Taylor, a concept musical that deconstructs musicals. Plus Cyberspace, tech poem enhanced by Trevor Winkfield visuals. The wrap: Nite Soil introduces Kenward, poet of dense stanzas, to Elmslie, outed collagist of resonant icons in a smartly packaged collection of 41 full-color postcards.