The Not Yet Fallen World: New and Selected Poems

A radiant celebration of Pulitzer PrizeÐwinning poet Stephen DunnÕs enduring oeuvre.

Hailed as "indispensable" (David Wojahn), Pulitzer PrizeÐwinning poet Stephen Dunn masterfully shifts between the metaphysical and the ironic, never wavering in his essential honesty. His graceful poems confront our contradictions with tenderness and wit, enliven the ordinary with penetrating observation, and alert us to the haunting wonders and relationships that surround us.

The Not Yet Fallen World draws from all nineteen of Stephen DunnÕs crystalline volumes, including his most recent, Pagan Virtues (2019); the National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist Loosestrife (1996); and the Pulitzer PrizeÐwinning Different Hours (2000). By turns sardonic and profound, Dunn examines the disguises we don to hide from ourselves and reveals sublime beauty hidden within seemingly mundane interactions. Nine new poems extend the poetÕs inquiry into the paradoxes of contemporary life; as he writes in "Love Poem Near the End of the World," "Something keeps me holding on / to a future I didnÕt think possible."

Arranged to further DunnÕs signature themes_mortality, morality, and the roles we play in the essential human comedy of getting through each day_this final collection captures the breadth of an acclaimed poetÕs achievement. His legacy is a poetic expanse suffused with fearless generosity and perceptive wisdom.