Virginia Woolf's career was shaped by her impression of the conflict between poetry and the novel, a conflict she often figured as one between masculine and feminine, old and new, bound and free. In large part for feminist reasons, Woolf promoted the triumph of the novel over poetry, even as she adapted some of poetry's techniques for the novel in order to portray the inner life. Woolf considered poetry the rival form to the novel. A monograph on Woolf's sense of genre rivalry thus offers a thorough reinterpretation of the motivations and aims of her canonical work. Drawing on unpublished archival material and little-known publications, the book combines biography, book history, formal analysis, genetic criticism, source study, and feminist literary history. Woolf's attitude towards poetry is framed within contexts of wide scholarly interest: the decline of the lyric poem, the rise of the novel, the gendered associations with these two genres, elegy in prose and verse, and the history of English Studies. Virginia Woolf and Poetry makes three important contributions. It clarifies a major prompt for Woolf's poetic prose. It exposes the genre rivalry that was creatively generative to many modernist writers. And it details how holding an ideology of a genre can shape literary debates and aesthetics.

"Kopley's style was a joy to read in and of itself: at once clear, succinct and evocative, with a flow and rhythm which complemented but did not overpower the quotations from Woolf's own prose. It is altogether an accomplished publication. . .Kopley [brings] characterisation and a real flair for narrative story-telling into the mix. . .Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable and informative book which will add much to Woolf scholarship. It will also be an important text for anyone researching the novel more widely, those interested in gendered literary history or the study of the inter-relationship between lived experience, creativity and literary output. More than that, though, it is highly recommended to all who enjoy thoughtful, intelligent biography. I for one am very much looking forward to reading whatever Kopley may be working on next." - Alison Daniell, Women's Writing

"It is inspired research written in gorgeous prose and will delight anyone interested in the influence that poetry and prose historically exert on each other. Kopley's study opens new vistas for understanding the exquisite tension that lies at the bottom of Woolf's often challenging but always beautiful writing." - Benjamin Bagocius, Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature

"The achievement of this important study is to frame that question [of Woolf's engagement with poetry and poets] in practical terms, pursue it thoroughly across the decades of Woolf's writing, and arrive at conclusions so compelling that once laid out they appear obvious...The book should be as accessible and useful a resource for undergraduates as it will be a rich and illuminating one for Woolf scholars." - Ella Ophir, Woolf Studies Annual, Volume 28, 2022

"This assured, well-researched work draws on both published and unpublished sources to artfully weave the story of Woolf's relationship with poetry through a solid framework of her key life events. [...] At a time when it is becoming more difficult for any author to find a new, original angle on Woolf's life and work, Virginia Woolf and Poetry proves a welcome surprise." - Vanessa Curtis, the Times Literary Supplement

"It is no exaggeration to say that many of the works published on Virginia Woolf in 2021 will come to define the field in future years. Emily Kopley's landmark monograph, Virginia Woolf and Poetry is an exhaustively researched and enlightening study of Woolf's literary debt to her poetry-writing forebears and contemporaries. Kopley posits a novel theory of Woolf as a novelist doubly rooted in her 'consideration of the waning power of poetry and the waxing power of the novel' and a 'strong association of printed verse with male power'. Virginia Woolf and Poetry stands as a singularly impressive scholarly achievement. It offers novel, deeply researched and rigorously argued insights into Woolf's developing practice as a writer, into her interlocutors, and into her writings." - Dr. Joshua Phillips, Year's Work in English Studies.

"Emily Kopley's outstanding book Virginia Woolf and Poetry is, surprisingly, the first fully to explore the mysterious status of poetry in Woolf's work and to articulate debates about the poetics with which her writing engages. [....] Every page of this insightful, sustained work contains a gem that will help readers appreciate an aspect of Woolf's writing afresh. [....] Critical works come and go, reflective of the theoretical fashions of the times. Only a few will be read on into the future because they have definitively altered our understanding; Virginia Woolf and Poetry is such a book." - Matthew Macer-Wright, Virginia Woolf Bulletin

"Emily Kopley's outstanding book Virginia Woolf and Poetry is, surprisingly, the first fully to explore the mysterious status of poetry in Woolf's work and to articulate debates about the poetics with which her writing engages." - Matthew Macer-Wright, Bulletin