Contemporary Spanish Poetry: The Word and the World comprises eleven essays that collectively explore the rich topography of contemporary Spanish poetry. The studies are tied together by a common thread: each essay responds to the contradictory yet unifying principle sugested by the subtitle, 'The Word and the World', namely, the poet's impulse to create a self-contained reality, in contrast to her or his competing impulse to remain vitally connected to the world. A tribute to the continuing influence on the field of Hispanic poetry by Andrew P. Debicki, one of that field's most distinguished authorities, the essays in this volume were writen by colleagues and former students (recognized critics in their own right). Debicki's illuminating application of varied critical methodologies and theoretical approaches, in books such as Poetry of Discovery and Spanish Poetry of the Twentieth Century, is reflected in all the essays included in this book. Diverse and eclectic in themes and poetic concerns, the essays are dedicated to the Spanish lyric from the post-Civil War period to the present day: from 'olde'' poets like Vicente Aleixandre ad Gloria Fuertes to more recent voices such as those of Ana Maria Moix and Ana Rossetti; from luminaries like Francisco Brines and Jose Angel Valente to the women poets producing intriguing work but still relatively unrecognized outside of Spain. In keeping with the volume's variety, the eleven authors draw on widely divergent reading strategies; among them, feminism,W. J. T. Mitchell's taxonomic analysis of space in literature, and queer theory. The volume closes with a panoramic view that defines contemporary Spanish poetry's role vis-a-vis a highly diversified audience. All in all, each of these critical pieces, with the author's particular intuitions, methodological preferences, and theoretical framework, is a reminder of the breadth of knowledge Andrew Debicki has brought to the practice of criticism, his joyfully pragmatic approach to the individual poem, and his understanding that the art of poetry is an expression of the writer's intimate world, but also a vehicle of connection to the world outside the poem.