Ana Božičević, Ken Chen, Craig Morgan Teicher
Welcome to the final installment of this year s poetry preview. I d like to thank Ana, Ken, Evie, and Phillip for joining me this year and bringing their unique sensibilities to this glimpse into the future. Our collective picks for the must-read poetry books of the coming year (don t forget to check out parts one and two of the preview) show, among other things, the incredible capaciousness of contemporary poetry.
I ve never felt the urgent need for that breadth and diversity as I do now, as I struggle as all of us are struggling to understand the chaos of the last four years and look, with as much hope as we can muster, toward an uncertain horizon. May these books be sustaining company for you as they have been for us. And stay safe! Craig Morgan Teicher
Edited by Neil Astley. Bloodaxe, out now
The fourth anthology in the publisher’s Staying Alive series tagline: “real poems for unreal times” offers an international selection of more than 500 poems addressing themes of love, loss, fear, and pain, as well as the joy of living.
Together in a Sudden Strangeness
Edited by Alice Quinn, Knopf, out now
Reflecting on Covid-19 and its long-ranging impacts, this anthology collects 85 poems by prominent writers including Billy Collins, Jane Hirshfield, Ada Limón, and Carl Phillips.
Walkman
Michael Robbins. Penguin Books, June
In poems that contemplate the end of the world, Robbins examines the political moment and current ecological crisis, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.