""American Political Poetry into the Twenty-First Century" creates a new kind of discourse. Inclusive in its assessment of much 20th century U.S. poetry, the book reads mainstream poets alongside a number of Latina/o writers, the culture of poetry Michael Dowdy finds much more active politically. His concluding section takes on the issue of whether or not academic study can legitimate hip-hopo, clearly the most political of current poetry forms. This is a truly helpful book."--Linda Wagner-Martin, Frank Borden Hanes Professor of English & Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.