While the Undertaker Sleeps

Self-confessed 'wise guy of the prose poem' and also its unofficial laureate, Peter Johnson is one of America's foremost practitioners and critics of prose poetry. The publication of his While the Undertaker Sleeps: Collected and New Prose Poems provides an important opportunity to reflect on the reputation of a master of the form, who, according to poet and critic Chard deNiord, 'almost singlehandedly revived the currency of the prose poem during the nineties and early oughts.' Indeed, Joh...