Our rampant selfie-taking moment (via Snapchat, Tinder, and YouTube, e.g.) showcases what American poetry has expressed for centuries: a national impulse for self-portraiture. This stylish anthology collects astonishing self-portrait poems—brilliantly divided into smart, revealing sections—from the mid-twentieth century through today.

By experiencing the various ways that our greatest poets re-render and distort themselves, we see America’s glorious struggle with defining itself. John Ashbery, Stephanie Burt, Lucie Brock-Broido, Natalie Diaz, Rita Dove, Jorie Graham, Terrance Hayes, Donika Kelly, Gregory Pardlo, Sylvia Plath, Carl Phillips, Mark Strand, Tracy K. Smith, Natasha Tretheway, Charles Wright, and many others.