Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner
Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007–2020
by Carl Phillips
Summary
Phillips investigates desire, power, and ethical uncertainty through long, syntactically winding sentences that enact the mind in motion. Drawing on classical myth and the natural world, he treats the erotic as a site of moral inquiry rather than easy consolation. The volume gathers more than a decade of work into a sustained meditation on how we live with our own wanting.
”
Historical Context & Significance
Phillips is celebrated for his coiled syntax and making the abstract feel sensual.