Lewis Turco, Professor Emeritus of English Writing Arts, is perhaps the most widely respected poet-scholar in the United States. He took his B.A. from the University of Connecticut in 1959 and his M.A. from the University of Iowa in 1962. In 2000 he received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Ashland University. Lewis Turco's classic THE BOOK OF FORMS: A HANDBOOK OF POETICS has been called ©the poet's Bible© since its original publication in 1968. Turco has won many awards, including the Melville Cane Award of the Poetry Society of America in 1986 and the John Ciardi Award for lifetime achievement in poetry. This volume is a collection of essays by some this nation's leading poets, presented in honor of Dr. Turco's retirement in 1996. Tributes from students are also included in this Festschrift.