Edward Dorn Way West Signed Black Sparrow 1993

Description

A substantial late-career gathering from Edward Dorn, one of the key figures orbiting the Black Mountain poets, though always a bit outside the circle—more western, more skeptical, less interested in institutional poetics. Way West spans three decades and shows Dorn moving between forms without settling, which is part of the appeal. The title itself signals geography as much as attitude.

Black Sparrow did this right, as usual—clean typography, restrained design, and that distinctive balance between fine press sensibility and trade accessibility. Dorn’s work here carries the dryness and intelligence you’d expect, with an undercurrent of critique about American expansion, myth, and language itself. This is one of the better single-volume entries for Dorn if you want range.

Clean, signed Black Sparrow—checks the right boxes without overthinking it.