A plainspoken but eminently effective poet, the late William Stafford (1914-93) managed to influence the mainstream of American poetry by distancing himself from its trends and politics. Crossing Unmarked Snow continues - in the tradition of Stafford's well-loved collections Writing the Australian Crawl and You Must Revise Your Life - collecting prose and poetry on the writer's profession. The book includes reviews and reflections on poets from Theodore Roethke and Carolyn Forche to Philip Levine; conversations on the making of poems; and a selection of Stafford's own poetry. The book also includes a section on the art of teaching, featuring interviews, writing exercises, and essays on the writer's vocation.