Points of Departure

"One of our very finest         poets in full stride." -- HarvardReview, on Adjusting         to the Light       A 1995 recipient of the Academy         Award in Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Miller         Williams is one of America's best known and loved poets. He also has won         the prestigious Poets' Prize; the Amy Lowell Award in Poetry, presented         by Harvard University; the Prix de Rome for Literature from the American         Academy of Arts and Letters, and many others.       Williams's newest collection         is built of the idiom of ordinary speech. Mostly narrative and dramatic,         these indelible poems are populated by individuals who go about their         lives much as all of us do; in fear of pain and loneliness, in hope of         something like love. The breath of Williams's talent gives them life,         his honesty and precision make them unforgettable.