This book offers a collection of essays, written over twenty years, that traces the author's literary temperament. In ""Make Us Wave Back"", National Book Critic's Circle Award finalist Michael Collier explores the influences that have made him one of the most distinguished poets of his generation. Beyond the development of his own literary voice, he is also interested in examining his preoccupations with the language of poetry and its traditions. ""Make Us Wave Back"" includes essays on an expansive list of subjects, among them the literary correspondence of William Maxwell; the meaning of the author's own role as poet laureate of the state of Maryland; the journals of Louise Bogan, and how they reveal Bogan's struggle with her own personal fears as well as the reconstruction of herself as a writer; and many more.