Poetic Salvage

Reading Mina Loy

Tara Prescott

Mina Loy—poet, artist, exile, and luminary—was a prominent and admired figure in the art and literary circles of Paris, Florence, and New York in the early years of the twentieth century. But over time, she gradually receded from public consciousness and her poetry went out of print. As part of the movement to introduce the work of this cryptic poet to modern audiences, Poetic Salvage: Reading Mina Loy provides new and detailed explications of Loy’s most redolent poems. This book helps readers gain a better understanding of the body of Loy’s work as a whole by offering compelling close readings that uncover the source materials that inspired Loy’s poetry, including modern artwork, Baedeker travel guides, and even long-forgotten cultural venues. Helpfully keyed to the contents of Loy’s Lost Lunar Baedeker, edited by Roger Conover, this book is an essential aid for new readers and scholars alike. Mina Loy forged a legacy worthy of serious consideration—through a practice best understood as salvage work, of reclaiming what has been so long obscured. Poetic Salvage: Reading Mina Loy dives deep to bring hidden treasures to the surface.

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 292 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-61148-812-8 • Hardback • December 2016 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-61148-814-2 • Paperback • May 2019 • $47.99 • (£37.00)

978-1-61148-813-5 • eBook • December 2016 • $42.50 • (£33.00)

Subjects: Poetry / Women Authors, Literary Criticism / Poetry, Literary Criticism / Modern / 20th Century

Poetic Salvage

Reading Mina Loy

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Mina Loy—poet, artist, exile, and luminary—was a prominent and admired figure in the art and literary circles of Paris, Florence, and New York in the early years of the twentieth century. But over time, she gradually receded from public consciousness and her poetry went out of print. As part of the movement to introduce the work of this cryptic poet to modern audiences, Poetic Salvage: Reading Mina Loy provides new and detailed explications of Loy’s most redolent poems. This book helps readers gain a better understanding of the body of Loy’s work as a whole by offering compelling close readings that uncover the source materials that inspired Loy’s poetry, including modern artwork, Baedeker travel guides, and even long-forgotten cultural venues. Helpfully keyed to the contents of Loy’s Lost Lunar Baedeker, edited by Roger Conover, this book is an essential aid for new readers and scholars alike. Mina Loy forged a legacy worthy of serious consideration—through a practice best understood as salvage work, of reclaiming what has been so long obscured. Poetic Salvage: Reading Mina Loy dives deep to bring hidden treasures to the surface.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 292 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-61148-812-8 • Hardback • December 2016 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-61148-814-2 • Paperback • May 2019 • $47.99 • (£37.00)

978-1-61148-813-5 • eBook • December 2016 • $42.50 • (£33.00)

Subjects: Poetry / Women Authors, Literary Criticism / Poetry, Literary Criticism / Modern / 20th Century

Author

Tara Prescott is a lecturer in writing programs at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Mina Loy: Her Life and Lifework
An Aesthetic Invitation
Part I: FUTURISM X FEMINISM: THE CIRCLE SQUARED (POEMS 1914–1920)
Chapter 1: Women in Space and Time
Part II: SONGS TO JOANNES (1917)
Chapter 2: Pig Cupid and Psyche
Part III: CORPSES AND GENIUSES (POEMS 1919–1930)
Chapter 3: Portrait of the Poet as a Young Artist
Chapter 4: Loy’s Coterie
Chapter 5: Exilic Travels
Part IV: COMPENSATIONS OF POVERTY
Chapter 6: Urban Bricoleur
Epilogopoeia: TheLost Lunar Baedeker Found
Appendices
Bibliography
About the Author

Poetic Salvage

Reading Mina Loy

Tara Prescott

Poetic Salvage

Reading Mina Loy

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