Best New Poets 2007: 50 Poems from Emerging Writers

Praise for earlier editions:"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

In just three years Best New Poets has established itself as a crucial venue for rising poets and a valuable resource for poetry lovers. The only publication of its kind, this annual anthology is made up exclusively of work by writers who have not yet published a full-length book. The poems included in this eclectic sampling represent the best from the many that have been nominated by the country’s top literary magazines and writing programs, as well as some two thousand additional poems submitted through an open online competition. The work of the fifty writers represented here provides the best perspective available on the continuing vitality of poetry as it’s being practiced today.

Natasha Trethewey is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University. Her most recent book, Native Guard, received the Pultizer Prize. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, and Best American Poetry, and has been honored with the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and the Lillian Smith Award for Poetry.