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 59 is the memorial issue for William Packard. It features a re-print of the NYQ 40 craft interview with William Packard; a previously unpublished interview with William Packard by Wendy Lee Matthes; the famous essay, "A Writer Writes," by William Packard; and poetry by William Packard, Charles Bukowski, Antler, Lyn Lifshin, Andrew Glaze, Stephen Herz, Jerry Judge, Susan Thomas, Chris Tusa, Douglas Treem, Taylor Graham, Urayoán Noel, Lewis Turco, William E. Meyer Jr., Claudia Burbank, J. Slater, Kurt Brown, Tony Gloeggler, Robert Nazarene, Carrie Simma, Beverly Normand, Laura Treacy Bentley, P. M. F. Johnson, Michael Morical, rocking chair Frank, Emmy Perez, Corrine De Winter, Saxon Henry, Timothy Monaghan, Ryan G. Van Cleave, Patricia Farewell, Stephanie Dickinson, Alison Stone, Ardith Paige Henoch, Todd Moore, Elisavietta Ritchie, Norman Stock, Gary Goude, Tony Quagliano, Knute Skinner, Margaret Barbour Gilbert, Ted Jonathan, Dennis Bernstein, Donald Lev, William Baer, Linda Lerner, Michael Estabrook, Michael V. Axtell, Nicole Blackman, Helen Tzagoloff, and Miriam Munson.