In this highly accessible volume, poet Andrew Hudgins puts himself under the eye of scrutiny, spanning his career from a beginning writer seriously committed to his art, to a mature author ready to reflect upon his role as a poet.

The transition from one to the other comprises a rich lode of personal experiences, which Hudgins honestly and humorously details in essays ranging from his fascination with imagined worlds created by books, to his appreciation of the works of nineteenth century poet Frederick Goddard Tuckerman and contemporary poet Galway Kinnell.

Examining his own autobiography, The Glass Hammer, Hudgins reveals some of the ways he lied in that book - and some of the reasons for doing so. In a lighthearted manner, he manages to throw both light - and shadow - on the autobiography as a literary form.

Amid engaging anecdotes of his Southern upbringing, The Glass Anvil vividly records the depth of Hudgins's fascination with language, particularly as it mingles with the important issues of his life - religion, racism, Southern literature, and narrative poetry. This fascination is further documented in a free wheeling interview that closes the book.