Customer Reviews

Best New Poets 2007: 50 Poems from Emerging Writers

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Samovar Press's "Best New Poets" series, the 2007 edition, the one I picked up recently, being only the third installment. The series is devoted to "emerging writers," i.e. those who may have been published in small presses but who have yet to publish a full-length volume of poetry (although some had been announced and likely will have appeared by now...should be fun tracking some of them down now that a few more years have transpired). Admittedly, the volume is relatively slight--fifty selections in all--but if I may be allowed a bit of linguuistic UNoriginality, what they lack in quantity, they really do make up for in quality. Many of the contributors have been associated with MFA programs, but most are already mature writers with distinct voices. It will be interesting to see these talented young poets grow and develop.

I've read the Best New Poets series since it began in 2005. It just gets better and better. What I especially like, is that the editors choose as many poems from the independent submissions as from those nominated by prestigious journals and conferences. All styles, themes, lengths and regions of the country are represented. Fantastic book!