For Dust Thou Art

Running the gamut from traditional to radical forms, Timothy Liu s sixth collection of poems, "For Dust Thou Art," continues the trajectory of his previous books but extends his lyrical range. The centerpiece of the volume s tripartite structure is a meditation on the events surrounding 9/11 and its aftermath. In his poems, Liu explores what a twenty-first century American poetry of witness might look like and protests the charge that the poetic generation to which Liu belongs is stymied by a kind of jaded amorality. Whether taking on public spectacle or contemplating the fallout of a private life, these meditations move forward and backward through time, seeking spiritual consolation within a material world."