Joel Lewis is at the forefront of New York School poets. An respected anthologist and editor, he won the Ted Berrigan award for his most recent of his books, House Rent Boogie. An urban poet with an acute ear for colloquial speech, he has roots not only in traditions set out by New York School pioneers but also in the work of his fellow New Jerseyite, William Carlos Williams. A poem by Lewis can be a great delight: he is one of the few genuine poets working today who has a strong sense of humor. His most recent work is more somber, concerned with the poet's Jewish identity and its survival in the modern world. Vertical's Currency brings together work from all of Lewis's earlier books together with a substantial selection of new poems