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The 2019 edition of The Best American Poetry--"one of the mainstays of the poetry publication world" (Academy of American Poets)--now guest edited by Major Jackson, award-winning poet and poetry editor of the Harvard Review.Since 1988, The Best American Poetry has been the leading anthology of contemporary American poetry. The Washington Post said of the 2017 edition, "The poems...have a wonderful cohesion and flow, as if each contributes to a larger narrative about life today...While readers may question some of the selections--an annual sport with this series--most will find much that resonates, including the insightful author notes at the back of the anthology."The state of the world has inspired many to write poetry, and to read it--to share all the rage, beauty, and every other thing under the sun in the way that only poetry can. Now the foremost anthology of contemporary American poetry returns, guest edited by Major Jackson, the poet and editor who, "makes poems that rumble and rock" (poet Dorianne Laux). This brilliant 2019 edition includes some of the year's most defining, striking, and innovative poems and poets.… (más)
This annual collection of “the best” American poetry is always a welcome affirmation of the continuing importance of the art of poetry in this forever-changing world. While acknowledging that, and acknowledging that I have been an intermittent reader of these volumes, I confess I bought this volume to "shop" for new-to-me poets. Did I read all of the 75 poems included in this volume? No. Did I read most? Yes. While I am quite capable of analyzing a specific poem, if required; I have my own personal preferences as to how I like poetry (usually relatively short with a fair amount of white space) and as I have gotten older I am prejudiced towards things that are more comfortable, BUT, I do still like to explore some.
All of the poems I read were, of course, excellent in their own ways. It is a mix of approaches, language and form. Some take a light approach to make their points, some are somber and powerful. I noted nine 'favorite' poems/poets via dog-earing pages. The poets are: Margaret Atwood, Joshua Bennett, Carl Dennis, Edward Hirsch, Didi Jackson, Ilya Kaminsky, Sharon Olds, Tracy K Smith and Kevin Young. Four of these— Atwood, Dennis, Hirsch & Olds—have been around a long time and are familiar to me; the other five have been born since 1970 and only Kaminsky and Smith were familiar (I probably recognized about a third of the poets in the collection). That’s a gain of three newbies to investigate! I can’t reproduce all my favorites here, but I’ll list the titles in case one wants to attempt finding them online, and reproduce the two shortest, both of which seem to say so little, but so much about where we are today.
My nine faves: Atwood: “An Update on Werewolves” Bennett: “America Will Be” Dennis: “Armed Neighbor” Hirsch: “Stranger by Night” Jackson: “The Burning Bush” Kaminsky: from “Last Will and Testament” Olds: “Rasputin Aria” Smith: “The Greatest Personal Privation” Young: “Hive”
“Stranger by Night” by Edward Hirsch
After I lost my peripheral vision I started getting sideswiped by pedestrians cutting in front of me almost randomly like memories I couldn’t see coming as I left the building at twilight or stepped gingerly off the curb or even just crossed the wet pavement to the stairs descending precipitously into the subway station and I apologized to every one of those strangers jostling me in a world that had grown stranger by night. (originally published in the Threepenny Press)
“Hive” by Kevin Young
The honey bees’ exile is almost complete. You can carry
them from hive to hive, the child thought & that is what
he tried, walking with them thronging between his pressed palms.
Let him be right. Let the gods look away as always. Let this boy
who carries the entire actual, whirring world in his calm
The 2019 edition of The Best American Poetry begins with an impassioned introduction by David Lehman on political correctness in today's society. Major Jackson is the guest editor this year and poses the theme of artistic dignity vs street cred. With both of the introductions, I was expecting the poetry to follow suit. The poetry, however, doesn't seem to have the punch I was expecting from the introductions. Although very modern in form and seemingly less conservative, although not less controversial, then past editions, this does not seem to be a "best of" collection. Rather than the more themed collections of past years, this year's edition seems to cover a wide spectrum, like a survey. It could be the "street cred" of this edition that has left me, for the first time, feeling slightly disappointed. Maybe like music readers develop an ear for only certain types of poetry. Perhaps, it is just me getting old and clinging to the more traditional type of poetry rather than embracing the new. A few poems did stand out from the many; most notably Deborah Landau's "Soft Targets." ( )
The 2019 edition of The Best American Poetry--"one of the mainstays of the poetry publication world" (Academy of American Poets)--now guest edited by Major Jackson, award-winning poet and poetry editor of the Harvard Review.Since 1988, The Best American Poetry has been the leading anthology of contemporary American poetry. The Washington Post said of the 2017 edition, "The poems...have a wonderful cohesion and flow, as if each contributes to a larger narrative about life today...While readers may question some of the selections--an annual sport with this series--most will find much that resonates, including the insightful author notes at the back of the anthology."The state of the world has inspired many to write poetry, and to read it--to share all the rage, beauty, and every other thing under the sun in the way that only poetry can. Now the foremost anthology of contemporary American poetry returns, guest edited by Major Jackson, the poet and editor who, "makes poems that rumble and rock" (poet Dorianne Laux). This brilliant 2019 edition includes some of the year's most defining, striking, and innovative poems and poets.
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All of the poems I read were, of course, excellent in their own ways. It is a mix of approaches, language and form. Some take a light approach to make their points, some are somber and powerful. I noted nine 'favorite' poems/poets via dog-earing pages. The poets are: Margaret Atwood, Joshua Bennett, Carl Dennis, Edward Hirsch, Didi Jackson, Ilya Kaminsky, Sharon Olds, Tracy K Smith and Kevin Young. Four of these— Atwood, Dennis, Hirsch & Olds—have been around a long time and are familiar to me; the other five have been born since 1970 and only Kaminsky and Smith were familiar (I probably recognized about a third of the poets in the collection). That’s a gain of three newbies to investigate! I can’t reproduce all my favorites here, but I’ll list the titles in case one wants to attempt finding them online, and reproduce the two shortest, both of which seem to say so little, but so much about where we are today.
My nine faves:
Atwood: “An Update on Werewolves”
Bennett: “America Will Be”
Dennis: “Armed Neighbor”
Hirsch: “Stranger by Night”
Jackson: “The Burning Bush”
Kaminsky: from “Last Will and Testament”
Olds: “Rasputin Aria”
Smith: “The Greatest Personal Privation”
Young: “Hive”
“Stranger by Night” by Edward Hirsch
After I lost
my peripheral vision
I started getting sideswiped
by pedestrians cutting
in front of me
almost randomly
like memories
I couldn’t see coming
as I left the building
at twilight
or stepped gingerly
off the curb
or even just crossed
the wet pavement
to the stairs descending
precipitously
into the subway station
and I apologized
to every one
of those strangers
jostling me
in a world that had grown
stranger by night.
(originally published in the Threepenny Press)
“Hive” by Kevin Young
The honey bees’ exile
is almost complete.
You can carry
them from hive
to hive, the child thought
& that is what
he tried, walking
with them thronging
between his pressed palms.
Let him be right.
Let the gods look away
as always. Let this boy
who carries the entire
actual, whirring
world in his calm
unwashed hands,
barely walking; bear
us all there
buzzing, unsung.
(From Poem-A-Day) (