Veil

Rae Armantrout, a core member of the Language writing movement, has long been known for the wit, emotion and punch of her social critique. Veil contains poems from five of Armantrout's previous books as well as a generous selection of new poems. Her work relies tenaciously on the intelligibility of language, her careful syntax bordering on plain speech and meticulously scored lines always questioning how linguistic subjects are formed. Armantrout is interested in questions of origin, and the psychology of perception; she is interested in who is speaking and how we know what we know. Fans will welcome the chance to become reacquainted with her witty and lyric meditations on erotic and family issues, and new readers will be captivated by her poems' immediate availability and freshness.

Rae Armantrout is Adjunct Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego and the author of six books of poetry, most recently Made To Seem (1995). Ron Silliman is a poet, critic and editor. He is the author of many books, including MultiPlex (1999) and the editor of In the American Tree (1986).