On Poetry and Science Fiction

Rebecca Ariel Porte, over at IO9, muses on the relationship between poetry and science fiction, even offering a list of "The Best Books of Poetry For Every Kind of Science Fiction Fan."

She begins:

"All poetry is experimental poetry," Wallace Stevens once said. And the world of contemporary poetry is much like the world of fantastical and science fictional prose narratives. And if you value diversity, weirdness, and contradiction in your reading, you could do a lot worse than to develop a taste for both science fiction and poetry.

I've really done it now. I've invoked a forbidden word: poetry. Purveyors of poetry are inherently suspect in most circles. We are seen as a cross between broccoli-pushers ("Try it, you'll like it!") and emissaries from the imperial courts of high culture come to impose our foreign customs on the subjugated masses.

The piece ends with her list, which includes write-ups on Cyborgia by Susan Slaviero, Multiversal by Amy Catanzano, Quantum Lyrics by A. Van Jordan, Aim Straight at the Fountain and Press Vaporize by Elizabeth Marie Young, and Mad Science in Imperial City by Shanxing Wang. Make the jump to read it in its entirety.