The editor states that the 17 essays in this book are concerned with poetry readings, the sound of poetry and the visual performance of poetry. They "offer original and wide-ranging elucidations of how twentieth-century poetry has been practiced as a performance art." Johanna Drucker contributed a chapter titled "Visual Performances of the Poetic Text" in which she describes and illustrates several poems of early 20th century visual poetry movements including an in depth analysis of "Poesie de mots inconnus" by Iliazd, a book that is held by the Sackner Archive. A listing of audio resources and a bibliography are included. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

According to text on the dust jacket, this book "examines some of the most interesting and experimental contemporary writers whose work forms a counterpoint to the mainstream writing of our time." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.