This anthology captures the excitement of one of the most challenging developments in contemporary French writing, the new metaphysical poetry which has become an influential strand in recent French literature. It is a rigorously ontological poetry concerned with the very being of things, and with the nature of poetic language itself.

This anthology brings together writers of different generations, from Gisele Prassinos and Joyce Mansour, through Jacques Dupin and Bernard Noel, to Franck-Andre Jamme and Andre Velter. It represents those who are major figures in France and already have some reputation in Britain and America, alongside writers who are still relatively unknown to English readers. Much of the poetry shows an affinity with the work of Henri Michaux.

The book also reflects the range of poetry published by the innovative French imprint Editions Fata Morgana, as well as the lists of leading French publishers such as Gallimard, Editions du Seuil and Mercure de France.