I’ll go ahead and say it: Robert Morgan might very well be the best living American poet. He is certainly the best living poet from our region. His work spans decades, and each book plays with different forms, styles, subjects, and characters. From hardscrabble farms to pondering solar terrestrial physics, his work spans the gambit and does so with a poetic clarity few can rival. He published his first book “Zirconia Poems” in 1969. This is one of the 25 hardback copies I’ve only heard rumors of until now. My friend Chan Gordon helped me find some of Morgan’s rarer chapbooks and such, and he always joked that one day he would sell me his Zirconia. Chan would go on to publish a small fine press edition of Morgan’s later book “October Light.” Morgan sent Chan this copy, and it includes the accompanying letter. I’m pleased to add it to the collection, as it will also serve as a reminder of Chan’s longstanding love and promotion of literature from the southern mountains. I’ve included the poems “Hunting” and “Junkyard After Storm” here. Fine book, without a jacket as issued. Numbered 19/25, and signed by Morgan. Association Copy. A new cornerstone of the collection. #robertmorgan #zirconiapoems #lillabuleropress #rarebooks #firstedition #bookcollection #bookcollecting #bookcollection #bibliophile #bookporn #bookhunting #bookstagram #modernfirsts #modernfirsteditions #finebooks #signedbooks #shelfie #southernliterature #southernlit #tennessee #appalachianlit #appalachianliterature #kentucky #northcarolina #virginia #westvirginia #appalachianpoetry https://www.instagram.com/p/CqWksHPsRY0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=