The Best American Poetry 1999
guest edited by Robert Bly
series editor David Lehman
Scribner, 1999
If you want a great introduction to contemporary American poets and poetry, pick up The Best American Poetry 1999 (or one of its predecessors). The Best American Poetry series was started in 1988, and each year's edition is guest edited by a different major American poet. The 1999 edition is edited by Robert Bly.
The collection focuses on poems that appeared in literary journals and reviews in 1999; a few of those listed here have been published posthumously. While this reads more like a "who's who" of poetry today -- featuring just about every established living poet -- there are some terrific works featured by the "under-40" crowd, including "The Minefield" by Diane Thiel, who recently was a co-winner of New Millennium Writings New Millennium Award for poetry:
. . . His friend ran a few lengths ahead,
like a wild rabbit across the grass,
turned his head, looked back once,
and his body was scattered across the field.
Most of the poetry in the collection is narrative free verse. There is a smattering of more "experimental" works and prose poems. However, this is not to say the collection is tame. While the poetry is often simple and straightforward, the subjects of the poems themselves are exciting and varied, even controversial, as evidenced by titles such as "Tired Sex," "The Characters of Dirty Jokes," " and "Barber College Haircut." In the contributor's notes, Molly Peacock says of her poem "Say You Love Me", about an episode between a young girl and a raging drunken father: "The first public exposure of 'Say You Love Me' occurred . . . when William Matthews invited me to speak at his class at Columbia University and, to tell you the truth, the whole class stared at the poem as if I had placed a turd on the table before them."
I must admit, I'm hooked on the series. As a poet myself, it is also a great way of examining some very well-crafted poems from some of today's most respected poets. And, it's fun to see the differences in styles chosen by each year's guest editor.
