Best New Poets 2009: 50 Poems from Emerging Writers
This collection stands out among the crowd claiming to represent emergent poets. Much of the editing and preliminary reading was done by emerging poets themselves, which results in an anthology that's fresh and eclectic, and may actually represent a significant portion of the best new poetry being written by the next generation....[Best New Poets]assures the reader that poetry, even in a generation of text messaging and MP3 players, is still alive and well. The youthfulness of the anthology, combined with the wide scope of its contents, is apparent in the poems, which are edgy and daring.(Virginia Quarterly Review)Unlike novelists and bad-boy memoirists, emerging poets are unlikely to sprawl on Oprah’s couch, date starlets, or rouse bidding wars. With an alert ear for new voices, this anthology offers a different kind of validation: that of being well heard. The result is a vibrant smorgasbord....[Best New Poets]bears evidence of the insistent inquiries of self and the world that drive poetry.(Foreword)[One] comes to realize that the adjectives ‘new’ and ‘emerging’ are mere technicalities in this instance. Although none of the poets included here have published a full-length book of poetry, many are MFA students or graduates, and chapbook authors, and most have already seen some of their poems published in the most renowned and exclusive journals in North America.... The result is a remarkably diverse mix of poems.(BookPleasures)Now in its fifth year, this annual volume presents some of the best young poets emerging from the MFA creative writing programs all over the U.S....[These poets] prove that American poetry has the strength and vision to move beyond the MFA environment in order to reshape and reflect past traditions.(The Bloomsbury Review)