Best New Poets


The Best New Poets series consists of annual poetry anthologies, each containing fifty poems from poets without a previously published collection. The first edition of the series appeared in 2005, and was published, as all later editions have been, by Samovar Press. In 2006, the University of Virginia Press began distributing the anthology.

Selection and Editors

Poems are nominated for the series by creative writing programs and literary magazines, though poets can also self-nominate through an online submission system. The poems to be included in the anthology are selected by a guest editor. Previous guest editors include George Garrett, Eric Pankey, Natasha Trethewey, Mark Strand, Kim Addonizio, Claudia Emerson, D. A. Powell, Matthew Dickman, Brenda Shaughnessy, Dorianne Laux Tracy K. Smith., Mary Szybist, and Natalie Diaz.

Selected Poets

The series, begun by University of Virginia professor Jeb Livingood in 2005, has published a number of notable writers since its inception, including Diana Vlavianos, Deborah Ager, Craig Blais, Christina Duhig, Cynthia Lowen, Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet, Jennifer Militello, Kerri French, Seth Abramson, Stephanie Rogers, Rhett Iseman Trull, Anna Journey, Zach Savich, Michael McGriff, Julie Larios, Alysia Nicole Harris, recent Stegner Fellows Keith Ekiss, Robin Ekiss, Kai Carlson-Wee, Edgar Kunz, Chelsea Bunn, Martha Greenwald, Dina Hardy, Sara Michas-Martin, Peter Kline, and Kimberly Grey, as well as Tarfia Faizullah, Ocean Vuong, sam sax, Leila Chatti, Phillip B. Williams, Tiana Clark, Peter LaBerge, Jameson Fitzpatrick, Fatimah Asghar, Anders Carlson-Wee, and Kaveh Akbar. To date, the youngest poets to be included in the series are Aidan Forster, Christina Im, and Lily Zhou, who were all included in the 2017 edition as high school seniors.

Books

Of the 2013 edition, Publishers Weekly wrote:
The work, much of it nominated by university writing programs and literary journals, is diverse in voice and subject matter, providing an effective barometer of contemporary American poetry...The poems seem to owe as much to 20th-century traditions as to the spirit of invention, and, as such, are a reminder that contemporary poetry is not only alive and well but continuing to evolve.

According to The Virginia Quarterly Review:
The youthfulness of the anthology, combined with the wide scope of its contents, is apparent in the poems, which are edgy and daring. Emerging, whether intentionally or not, as a younger sibling to the Best American Poetry anthologies, this series breaks new ground and provides fresh treasures.

Poet and critic David Wojahn has said of the series,
It's a nervy thing for an anthology to label itself Best New Poets, but...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."

Of the 2006 edition, ForeWord Magazine wrote,
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..."