The venture of this inviting collection is to look, from the many vantages that the 35 poets in this eclectic anthology chose to look, at what it was—knowing that a poem can't be conceived in advance of its creation—that helped their poems to emerge or connected them over time. The Rag-Picker's Guide to Poetry permits an inside view of how poets outwit internal censors and habits of thought, showing how the meticulous and the spontaneous come together in the process of discovery. Within are contained the work and thoughts of:

• Betty Adcock
• Joan Aleshire
• Debra Allbery
• Elizabeth Arnold
• David Baker
• Rick Barot
• Marianne Boruch
• Karen Brennan
• Gabrielle Calvocoressi
• Michael Collier
• Carl Dennis
• Stuart Dischell
• Roger Fanning
• Chris Forhan
• Reginald Gibbons
• Linda Gregerson
• Jennifer Grotz
• Brooks Haxton
• Tony Hoagland
• Mark Jarman
• A. Van Jordan
• Laura Kasischke
• Mary Leader
• Dana Levin
• James Longenbach
• Thomas Lux
• Maurice Manning
• Heather McHugh
• Martha Rhodes
• Alan Shapiro
• Daniel Tobin
• Ellen Bryant Voigt
• Alan Williamson
• Eleanor Wilner
• C. Dale Young