Keynote
All the blazingly original work by Larry Levis, “one of the greatest poets of a generation” (Carolyn Forché)
Book Title
Swirl & Vortex
Subtitle
Collected Poems
Cover Image
“A towering body of work by one of the great American poets of the 20th century. . . . A staggering achievement of style entwined with worldview, as humane and attentive to people and other creatures of nature as John Berger, as complex in their philosophy as Hegel by way of Stevens.”—Elisa Gabbert, The New York Times Book Review
Poem Excerpt
What do you do when nothing calls you anymore?
When you turn & there is only the light filling the empty window?
When the angel fasting inside you has grown so thin it flies
Out of you a last time without your
Knowing it, & the water dries up in its thimble, & the one swing
In the cage comes to rest after its almost imperceptible,
Almost endless, swaying?
—from “Elegy with a Thimbleful of Water in the Cage”
When you turn & there is only the light filling the empty window?
When the angel fasting inside you has grown so thin it flies
Out of you a last time without your
Knowing it, & the water dries up in its thimble, & the one swing
In the cage comes to rest after its almost imperceptible,
Almost endless, swaying?
—from “Elegy with a Thimbleful of Water in the Cage”
Body
The poetry of Larry Levis increasingly occupies a legendary place of reverence among poets and readers—the spell of his reputation only continuing to widen in the thirty years since his death. From the briefer lyrics and deep image-making of his early books to the long sequences and operatic narratives of his last works, Levis’s poems have an unmistakable signature, a way of expressing the sweep of history, perception, and heartbreak. Over his career, his poetic lines broadened to accommodate the cinematic aperture of his observations on American empire, poverty, landscape, migrant workers, political violence, addiction, and art. Levis’s expansive poems came to resemble the interconnecting patterns just discernible in the eddies of a stream or the leaves circling in a wind.
Swirl & Vortex at last makes all of Levis’s poetry available in one definitive volume. This collection includes the five books published in Levis’s lifetime, a brilliant reconfiguration of Levis’s posthumous books, and unpublished late poems, edited and with an afterword by David St. John. To trace Levis’s poetic development into his extraordinary “late style of fire”—cut short by his early death—is one of the singular experiences in contemporary poetry. Swirl & Vortex is an essential collection by one of the great poets of the end of the twentieth century, and a transformative work spiraling out toward our future.
Swirl & Vortex at last makes all of Levis’s poetry available in one definitive volume. This collection includes the five books published in Levis’s lifetime, a brilliant reconfiguration of Levis’s posthumous books, and unpublished late poems, edited and with an afterword by David St. John. To trace Levis’s poetic development into his extraordinary “late style of fire”—cut short by his early death—is one of the singular experiences in contemporary poetry. Swirl & Vortex is an essential collection by one of the great poets of the end of the twentieth century, and a transformative work spiraling out toward our future.
List Price
$35.00
Purchase at
Purchase at:
About the Author
Credit: Jay Paul
Upcoming Events
Project Poetica at Southern Methodist University presents a celebration of Larry Levis’s SWIRL & VORTEX
Date:
Location:
Sundown at Granada in Dallas, TXview map
LOCATION: The Sundown at Granada. This launch party for SWIRL & VORTEX will be hosted by SMU’s Project Poetica and will feature David St. John, Liz Johnson, Mai Der Vang, and Kevin Prufer. Click here for details.
Praise
“This monumental volume of Levis’s collected works is a study in the development and deepening of his gifts. . . . It’s an essential celebration of a poet of tremendous power.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Necessary for every poetry library . . . as reference, tour, and, as bonus, touching document of the depths of poetic friendships.”—Literary Hub, “Most Anticipated Poetry of 2026”
“There is no poet I’ve reread more than Larry Levis . . . a personal as well as a public poet, deep-image yet cerebral, a confessionalist and a surrealist. His lines and sections sprawl, yet there’s a tight tension, a flammable friction between his line breaks, woven narratives, motifs, and juxtapositions. His poems are somber and contrite, yet at times they can be funny as hell, too.”—Jacques J. Rancourt, Poetry
“Levis [is] not just a great poet but also a crucial one.”—David L. Ulin, Alta Journal
