An excellent introduction for readers coming to William Stafford for the first time and a valuable overview for the many readers already familiar with his poetry, Writing the World offers the best single guide to one of the most respected and celebrated poets of our time. Judith Kitchen's comprehensive study follows Stafford's major publications, from his first books to the later works, including the posthumous collection, The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems. All of Stafford's best-known books come under discussion, including Down in My Heart, a prose account of his experiences as a conscientious objector (see below); West of Your City, his first collection of poems, published when he was forty-six; and Traveling Through the Dark, which won the National Book Award. From this thorough and careful consideration of William Stafford's life work emerges an understanding the poet's unique vision of the world and his sense of moral and spiritual responsibility. Kitchen shows the intimate relationship between Stafford's way of writing and his way of living, drawing on specific poems to illustrate his pacifism, his poetic techniques, and his daily writing practices -- his way of "being receptive" to the creative act. Writing the World offers a companion guide to the work of a poet who has changed the shape of poetry and helped to shape the work of others.