Kenward Elmslie is an American writer associated with the New York School of Poetry. The informal vanguard group, which included a loose and open collection of avant-garde writers, painters, dancers, and musicians who were most active in the 1950s and 1960s, helped establish a new wave of practicing artists. The writers of the group became known for a confessional style, focusing on observation, spontaneity, and stream of consciousness.
Circus Nerves is a 1971 collection of poems by Elmslie published by Black Sparrow Press (Los Angeles, CA). The poems focus on mundane observations from the poet’s daily life, contrasted by sharp statements on abstract concepts. The cover art is by Joe Brainard.