Mason’s poetry explores a wide range of subjects, including
family, relationships, the outdoors, travel, history, and the
American West. Adept in traditional forms, Ludlow uses blank
verse to tell the story of the 1914 Ludlow massacre—in which
miners and their families were killed by the Colorado National
Guard. Brighde Mullins, reviewing Ludlow in the Dark Horse,
called the book a “cinematic contemplation in poetry” in which
Mason examines the lives of real and invented characters, the
Colorado terrain, and the immigrant experience. Mason’s prose
includes a memoir about Greece, News from the Village: Aegean
Friends (2010), and a collection of essays, The Poetry of Life
and the Life of Poetry (1999). He has co-edited the anthologies
of poetry Rebel Angels: 25 Poets of the New Formalism (1996),
Twentieth Century American Poetry (2004), and Western Wind: An
Introduction to Poetry (2005), as well as the essay collection
Twentieth Century American Poetics: Poets on the Art of Poetry
(2003). As a librettist, Mason