The Best American Poetry series consists of books annually published, each with poems from 75 authors who, in the opinion of the guest editors, represent the best American poetry published in a 12-month period.

The series continues to be "one of the most popular and best-selling poetry books published each year", according to an article on the Academy of American Poets Web site.^[1]

The series, begun by poet and editor David Lehman with the inaugural 1988 edition, has a different guest editor every year, usually a major poet. Lehman, still the general editor of the series, contributes a "state-of-poetry" foreword, and each year's guest editor also contributes an introduction. The book titles in the series always follow the format of the first, changing only the year: "The Best American Poetry 1988". David Lehman (born 1948) is the series editor for The Best American Poetry book series and a poet. ...

Another annual anthology presenting American poetry without any further specialization is the Pushcart series, which also anthologizes the year's short stories and essays. Two differences with the Best American series are that Pushcart anthologies carry fewer poems and all are from small presses.

A compendium for the first decade of the series has also been published, The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988-1997, guest edited by literary critic Harold Bloom, who selected what he regarded as the 75 best poems from the previous 10 anthologies. Bloom excoriated the 1996 issue of the series, with poems compiled by guest editor Adrienne Rich, and he refused to include any of Rich's selections in Best of the Best, although Lehman disagreed with that decision. Bloom asserted that Rich had selected poems based on the "race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, and political purpose of the would-be poet" rather than on aesthetic merit. Lehman said a number of Rich's selections would have met Bloom's criteria.^[2] Harold Bloom (born July 11, 1930, New York) is an American professor and prominent literary and cultural critic. ... Image:AdrienneRich. ...

Rules and process

In his foreword to the first book in the series, in 1988, Lehman laid out these rules for the series, which John Ashbery helped him develop:

• Lehman would select a prominent poet each year as guest editor
• Each year's new guest editor would select the poems
• Each year's anthology would have poems from the previous calendar year (the 1988 anthology, for example, would include poems published in 1987)
• There would be 50 to 75 poems in each annual anthology (in fact, there have always been 75 poems)
• The guest editor could select as many as three poems by an individual poet (in fact, extremely few poets have appeared more than once in the same year through the 2006 edition)
• Poets are asked to submit brief biographical information and, at their option, they may write a bit about the poem chosen ("its form or its occasion or the method of composition or any other feature worth remarking on" — page x), but this is entirely optional.
• The poems could come from magazines, including large circulation periodicals and small presses, and even books by individual poets
• For poems that appeared in the past but were reprinted in a magazine during the previous calendar year, Lehman decided to have no rule: "To such questions, the anthologist's ever-ready response is: you just play it by ear."
• Foreign poets residing in the United States, "especially in cases where the poet has come to seem a vital presence in a particular American community" are eligible to appear, and so John Ash, Seamus Heaney, and Derek Walcott all made it into the 1988 edition.

Lehman wrote that he set some tasks for himself as general editor: John Ash is a name shared by several people: John Ash (1724 - 1779), lexicographer and minister. ... Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney (IPA: //) (born 13 April 1939) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. ... Derek Walcott, courtesy of the Nobel Foundation Derek Alton Walcott (born January 23, 1930) is a West-Indian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who writes in English. ...

• Maintain continuity from year to year
• Enforcing "such rules as there are"
• Help the guest editor, in particular by helping find poetry for the guest editor to look over
• Pick the guest editor

In Lehman's foreword to the 1992 book, he noted that translations are ineligible.^[3]

Guest editors

Many major contemporary poets have served as guest editors of the series:

The Best American Poetry 2006, general editor, David Lehman was guest edited by poet Billy Collins. ... Image:Billycollins. ... Paul Muldoon (b. ... Lyn Hejinian (born 1941) is a United States poet, essayist, translator and publisher. ... Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (1947- ) is an eminent American poet who currently teaches at Princeton University. ... Robert Creeley (May 21, 1926 - March 30, 2005) was an American poet, author of more than sixty books, and usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that schools. ... Robert L. Hass (b. ... Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952 in Akron, Ohio, USA) is an African American United States poet and author. ... Robert Bly (born December 23, 1926 in Madison, Minnesota) is a poet, author, and leader of the Mythopoetic Mens Movement in the United States. ... John Hollander (born October 29, 1929) is an American poet and literary critic. ... Harold Bloom (born July 11, 1930, New York) is an American professor and prominent literary and cultural critic. ... James Hugh Joseph Tate (1910-1983), U.S. politician James Tate (writer) b. ... Image:AdrienneRich. ... Richard Howard is a distinguished American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. ... A.R. Ammons (1926-2001) was an American author and poet. ... Louise Elisabeth Glück (born April 22, 1943) is an American poet. ... Charles Simic Charles Simic (born May 9, 1938) is an American poet. ... Mark Strand (born April 11, 1934) is an American poet, born in Canada. ... Jorie Pepper Graham-Galvin (born May 9, 1950), American poet and the editor of numerous volumes of poetry. ... Donald Hall (born September 20, 1928) is an American poet and the U.S. Poet Laureate. ... John Ashbery John Ashbery (born July 28, 1927) is an American poet. ...

Critical reception of the series

According to an article on the Academy of American Poets Web site, "these anthologies seem to capture the zeitgeist of the current attitudes in American poetry" and "provide a bird's-eye view of the breadth of American poetry."^[1]

Criticisms of the series and its editors are that their selections and assessments exclude experimental poets, lack diversity, and ally too closely to poetry's "old guard".^[1]

In The Best American Poetry 1992, Lehman wrote in the Foreword, "The best anthologies are the ones that live up to their names. Each of the five distinguished poets who have served as editors of The Best American Poetry — John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Jorie Graham, Mark Strand, and this year Charles Simic — has insisted on excellence as the paramount criterion in the selection process."^[4] John Ashbery John Ashbery (born July 28, 1927) is an American poet. ... Donald Hall (born September 20, 1928) is an American poet and the U.S. Poet Laureate. ... Jorie Pepper Graham-Galvin (born May 9, 1950), American poet and the editor of numerous volumes of poetry. ... Mark Strand (born April 11, 1934) is an American poet, born in Canada. ... Charles Simic Charles Simic (born May 9, 1938) is an American poet. ...

Questions about fairness

In The Best American Poetry 1992, Lehman wrote in the Foreword, "The best anthologies are the ones that live up to their names. Each of the five distinguished poets who have served as editors of The Best American Poetry — John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Jorie Graham, Mark Strand, and this year Charles Simic — has insisted on excellence as the paramount criterion in the selection process."^[5] John Ashbery John Ashbery (born July 28, 1927) is an American poet. ... Donald Hall (born September 20, 1928) is an American poet and the U.S. Poet Laureate. ... Jorie Pepper Graham-Galvin (born May 9, 1950), American poet and the editor of numerous volumes of poetry. ... Mark Strand (born April 11, 1934) is an American poet, born in Canada. ... Charles Simic Charles Simic (born May 9, 1938) is an American poet. ...

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} [1]Academy of American Poets Web site, Web page/article titled "Great Anthology: Best American Poetry Series", no byline, accessed January 21, 2006
2. ^
3. ^ Lehman, David, Foreword, The Best American Poetry 1992, 1992, page x
4. ^ Lehman, David, Foreword, The Best American Poetry 1992, 1992, page x
5. ^ Lehman, David, Foreword, The Best American Poetry 1992, 1992, page x

January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

External links

• [2] Best American Poetry series Web site