Since its founding in 1969 by William Packard, The New York Quarterly has been devoted to excellence in the publication of a unique and fervent cross-section of contemporary American poetry regardless of school of thought, style, or genre. Our only concern is to focus on the craft that underlies effective poetry writing. The New York Quarterly features works by both known and emerging poets. The NYQ Craft Interviews present the views of some of our most outstanding poets on the general subjects of style, prosody and technique. The issues are rounded out with an essay or two on the subject of contemporary American poetry that is both accessible and meaningful to readers, poets, students, and teachers of poetry alike. NYQ 50 features a craft interview with Hayden Carruth, an editorial on NYQ history, essays on the "Current State of American Poetry" by Ethan Gilsdorf, X. J. Kennedy, and Michelle Waughtel, and poetry by Karl Shapiro, Charles Bukowski, Leo Connellan, Michael Moriarty, Knute Skinner, James Laughlin, Colette Inez, Michael McClure, Antler, Lyn Lifshin, Michael Buechele, Franz Douskey, Lewis Turco, Stephen Stepanchev, Donald Lev, Norman Stock, Harold Witt, Lynne Savitt, Sanford Fraser, B. D. Trail, William Packard, Gina Bergamino, Eric Cash, Thomas Krampf, Sheila Farr, Patricia Covey, Bill Shields, Mark Reynolds, Tom Rockwell, Lisa Palma, Maria Palumbo, Terrell Hunter, and Judith Donaldson.