"In this study, Dowdy uncovers and analyzes the primary rhetorical strategies, particularly figures of voice, in American political poetry from the Vietnam War-era to the present. By advancing a theoretical model that foregrounds how poems enact politically-engaged voices,the book cuts across critical studies organized by identity category and subject matter. Combining theories of agency and cultural studies, this comprehensive account of contemporary American verse uses close readings of canonical and lesser known poets, bilingual poets, and hip-hop artists in order to chart American poetry's distinctive voices. This book will be indispensable to those interested in twentieth-century poetry, poetics, hip-hop culture, literature and politics, cultural studies, and African-American and Latina/o cultures."--BOOK JACKET.