With essays on such influential verse biographers as Margaret Atwood, Dorothy Porter, Michael Ondaatje and Anne Carson along with newer practitioners such as Chris Orsman, Jordie Albiston, Robert Sullivan and Tusiata Avia, this collection looks at the inevitable tensions that arise between historical fact and the work of imagination - and the competing and complementary claims of truth and beauty. Contributors: Airini Beautrais, Amy Brown, Russell Coldicutt, Joan Fleming, Shari Kocher, Tom McLean, Bridget Orr, Ian Rae, Erin Scudder and Jessica L. Wilkinson.