The Way It Is

William Stafford is widely recognized as one of the most important poets of this century. The Way It Is gathers for the first time many of the unpublished poems from his last months, including the poem he wrote the day he died, as well as a generous selection of works from throughout his career. An editorial team including Kim Stafford, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Robert Bly collaborated on the manuscript to ensure that the collection does justice to Stafford's monumental body of work.