Best New Poets 2008

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 ""It's a nervy thing for an anthology to label itself Best New Poets, but once again this collection lives up to its name. It's a rich and readable selection, reflecting no party-line aesthetic, and attesting to the formidable promise of the emerging generation."" - David Wojahn