All of Us: The Collected Poems

Raymond Carver always thought of himself, first and foremost, as a poet. As he pointed out himself, he began as a poet and his first published work was a poem. This collected edition of his poems brings together, in the order of the first American publication, the poems of Fires (1985), Where Water Comes together with Other Water (1986), Ultramarine (1988), A New Path to the Waterfall (1989) and No Heroics, Please (1991). The text is edited by Professor William L. Stull of the University of Hartford, with notes and significant variorum readings, and is introduced by Raymond Carver’s widow, Tess Gallagher. Like his stories, Carver’s poems are spare and compressed, making use of everyday language with a moving simplicity and directness that seem easy to achieve but are the result of careful craftsmanship. This Collected Poems is an essential volume for any admirer of Carver and his writings.