In Evaluations of US Poetry since 1950, the editors have assigned a group of eminent poetry scholars the old task of defending poetry: they must defend poems they value and the values the poems bear. The result, contrary to the intuition that has led generations of poetry scholars to avoid evaluating the poems they study, is anything but undemocratic. These essays make American poetry a place of celebration (because the poems are truly compelling) as well as contest (because they are so different).--Aaron Kunin, author of Cold Genius