The Best American Poetry 2003: Series Editor David Lehman

By Yusef Komunyakaa

Book Overview

"Poetry encourages us to have dialogue through the observed, the felt, and the imaginary," writes editor Yusef Komunyakaa in his thought-provoking introduction to The Best American Poetry 2003. As a black child of the American South and a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, Komunyakaa brings his singular vision to this outstanding volume. Included here is a diverse mix of senior masters, crowd-pleasing bards, rising stars, and the fresh voices of an emerging generation. With comments from the poets elucidating their work and series editor David Lehman's eloquent foreword assessing the state of the art, The Best American Poetry 2003 is a must-have for readers of contemporary poetry.
Jonathan Aaron - Beth Anderson - Nin Andrews - Wendell Berry - Frank Bidart - Diann Blakely - Bruce Bond - Catherine Bowman - Rosemary Catacalos - Joshua Clover - Billy Collins - Michael S. Collins - Carl Dennis - Susan Dickman - Rita Dove - Stephen Dunn - Stuart Dybek - Charles Fort - James Galvin - Amy Gerstler - Louise Gl?ck - Michael Goldman - Ray Gonzalez - Linda Gregg - Mark Halliday - Michael S. Harper - Matthea Harvey - George Higgins - Edward Hirsch - Tony Hoagland - Richard Howard - Rodney Jones - Joy Katz - Brigit Pegeen Kelly - Galway Kinnell - Carolyn Kizer - Jennifer L. Knox - Kenneth Koch - John Koethe - Ted Kooser - Philip Levine - J. D. McClatchy - W. S. Merwin - Heather Moss - Stanley Moss - Paul Muldoon - Peggy Munson - Marilyn Nelson - Daniel Nester - Naomi Shihab Nye - Ishle Yi Park - Robert Pinsky - Kevin Prufer - Ed Roberson - Vijay Seshadri - Alan Shapiro - Myra Shapiro - Bruce Smith - Charlie Smith - Maura Stanton - Ruth Stone - James Tate - William Tremblay - Natasha Trethewey - David Wagoner - Ronald Wallace - Lewis Warsh - Susan Wheeler - Richard Wilbur - C. K. Williams - Terence Winch - David Wojahn Robert Wrigley - Anna Ziegler - Ahmos Zu-Bolton II

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743203887
• ISBN13: 9780743203883
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Another Exceptional Read

I will say once again,David Lehman is one of the most facinating writers, poets, and editors that I have ever read. He is the author of The Daily Mirror, a wonderful and well penned selection of poems. I believe his perspective and talent for finding the best poets lies in his experience. Mr.Lehman is a great editor and any reader who chooses to pick up and read this book will be thankful. One can learn so much from the writers and makers of The Best American Poetry books. I also recommend, his most recent book, The Last Avant-Garde: The Making of the New York School of Poets. I give all these books 5 stars!

One of the Better of the Best

It seems a general rule of thumb that if you enjoy the guest editor's work, you will enjoy most of their selections. I enjoy Koumunyakaa and his choices for this years best poetry. I especially enjoyed his introduction talking about the lack of content in many poems today. As with most books in this series, there are many familiar names such as Merwin, Williams, Kizer, Levine, Philips, but also some new and hopefully upcoming poets, such as Joy Katz. There are a few September 11th poems, but most of them are readable. This is one of the best in the series that I have read.

THANK-YOU'S

Thank you, David Lehman, for having chosen Yusef Komunyakaa to edit THE BEST AMERICAN POETRY 2003, the most interesting since Adrienne Rich edited THE BEST AMERICAN POETRY 1996. And thank you, Yusef Komunyakaa, for not shuffling the same old, worn cards again! Congratulations to all!