The Poets' Encyclopedia is an English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 poetical anthology, summarizes the literary, art and music worlds of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in the 1970s. 225 poets, artists, musicians and novelists transform the world's basic knowledge. Imagination trumps fact. John Cage

John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...

 writes on mushrooms, Richard Kostelanetz

Richard Kostelanetz

Richard Kostelanetz is an American artist, author and critic.He was born to Boris Kostelanetz and Ethel Cory and is the nephew of the composer Andre Kostelanetz....

 on gimmicks, Jackie Curtis

Jackie Curtis

John Curtis Holder, Jr. , better known as Jackie Curtis, was an actor, writer, singer and Warhol Superstar.-Early life and career:...

 on B-Girls, Pier Paolo Pasolini

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...

 on reality, Daniel Berrigan

Daniel Berrigan

Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....

 on Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

 on junk mail

Junk mail

Junk mail may refer to:* Junk Mail Publishing* Advertising mail* Spam , unsolicited electronic mail* Junk Mail * "The Junk Mail", an episode from the TV series Seinfeld...

, Irene Dogmatic on junk food

Junk food

Junk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all...

, John Chamberlain on junk sculpture, and William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...

 on heroin. As The New York Times said, it "includes Everything (page 82) and Nothing (page 196)." Unmuzzled OX

Unmuzzled OX

Unmuzzled OX, started by poet Michael Andre, edited in New York City and Kingston, Ontario, was a late-twentieth-century quarterly of poetry, art and politics. Aided by artist Erika Rothenberg, the best-known issue was The Poets' Encyclopedia, the world's basic knowledge transformed by 225 poets,...

, the publisher of The Poets' Encyclopedia, attempted as a kind of sequel The Poets' Guide to Canada. (Unmuzzled OX is edited in the summers from Kingston, Ontario.) Although George Bowering

George Bowering

George Harry Bowering, OC, OBC is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He has served as Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate....

, Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...

, Sonja Skarstedt

Sonja Skarstedt

Sonja Skarstedt was a Canadian poet, short story, playwright writer, painter and illustrator. Born in Montreal, Quebec, she was the founder and former editor of the literary magazine Zymergy, 1987-1991, and founder of Empyreal Press, 1990. She graduated from McGill University with a BA in English...

and other prominent Canadian poets wrote articles, the issue devolved into a jokey conversation between New Yorkers, pseudonymous New Yorkers, and the surrealist poet Russell Edson.