Editor's note: Geoffrey Hill (1932-2016) was considered by many to be the finest poet writing in English of his time. His first poetry appeared in the early 1950s and his last book was published in 2012. His work is dense, lyrical, layered, scholarly, arcane, and sometimes not easily accessible, which makes the rewards of his poetry all the greater for those who take up its challenges. We asked Graham Shearing, an Englishman who has collected and read Hill for many years, to discuss his poetry, and Jett Whitehead, a specialist in modern poetry, to discuss editions of Hill's works. GRAHAM SHEARING: Around 1980 I was in a bookshop in Bath, England, when I first found Geoffrey Hill's Tenebrae, then two years since its publication. I was struck by the design of the wrapper and the magical word Tenebrae, with its liturgical associations. I bou... [more Reading & Collecting Geoffrey Hill]

In the Poetry Book Shop -- A Parody in Prose Sylvia Plath is having an Argument & Song with Stanley Plumly, while Steve Orlen gives Permission to Speak to Howard Moss, who is always Finding Them Lost on one shelf or the other. Why you'd think David Ignatow would have more to do than chasing Sunlight – collectors know it's so bad for the book spines – but he does it all for his daughter. And then we have thoughtful Randall Jarrell giving Blood for a Stranger, while that Kenneth Patchen obsesses with following Red Wine and Yellow Hair everywhere! Poor Gary Snyder was Left Out in the Rain for no reason at all, so his pal C. K. Williams held The Vigil until he brainstormed A Dream of Mind to get ole Gary back on the Mountains and Rivers Without End. Then along comes Corso with his own Mindfield and bumps into Robinson Jeffers looking for ... [more In the Poetry Book Shop]