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, and in 2006 the University of Virginia Press

University of Virginia Press

The University of Virginia Press , founded in 1963, is a university press that is part of the University of Virginia.-External links:*...

 began distributing the anthology.

Selection & 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

George Garrett (poet)

George Palmer Garrett. was an American poet and novelist. He was the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. His novels include The Finished Man, Double Vision, and the Elizabethan Trilogy, composed of Death of the Fox, The Succession, and Entered from the Sun...

 (2005), Eric Pankey

Eric Pankey

-Life:He graduated from the University of Missouri and Iowa University with his MFA in 1981.He directed the Creative Writing Program at Washington University in St...

 (2006), Natasha Trethewey

Natasha Trethewey

Natasha Trethewey is an American poet who won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her 2006 collection, Native Guard.Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. She earned the A.B. in English from the University of Georgia, an M.A. in poetry from Hollins University, and an M.F.A. in poetry from...

 (2007), Mark Strand

Mark Strand

Mark Strand is an American poet, essayist, and translator. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1990. Since 2005, he has been a professor of English at Columbia University.- Biography :...

 (2008), Kim Addonizio

Kim Addonizio

Kim Addonizio is an award-winning American poet and novelist.-Life:Addonizio is the daughter of tennis champion Pauline Betz and sports writer Bob Addie....

 (2009), Claudia Emerson

Claudia Emerson

Claudia Emerson is an American poet who won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Late Wife.-Background:...

 (2010), and D. A. Powell

D. A. Powell

-Life and career:Powell lived in various places growing up, then graduated high school from Lindhurst High School in Linda, California. He then worked in a number of jobs before eventually settling in Santa Rosa, California, where he attended Sonoma State University. He earned a bachelor's degree...

 (2011).

Selected Poets

The series, begun by essayist and University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 Lecturer Jeb Livingood

Jeb Livingood

Jeb Livingood is an American essayist, short story writer, editor, and academic.- Life :He graduated from University of Virginia, American University, George Mason University, and University of Virginia, with an M.F.A...

, has published a number of notable poets since its inception, including Deborah Ager

Deborah Ager

-Life:Ager founded the poetry magazine known as 32 poems or 32 Poems Magazine in 2003 with the poet John Poch. She was educated at the University of Maryland and the University of Florida ....

, Christina Duhig

Christina Duhig

-Life:Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she studied at Case Western Reserve University and received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She has taught at North Carolina A&T State University. and John Jay College of Criminal Justice...

, Cynthia Lowen

Cynthia Lowen

-Life:She graduated from Colorado College.Her work appeared in Black Warrior Review, The Laurel Review-Awards:* 2008 Campbell's Corner Poetry Award* “Discovery”/Boston Review Poetry Prize* Inkwell Poetry Competition...

, Jennifer Militello

Jennifer Militello

Jennifer Militello is an American poet and professor. She is author of the chapbook, Anchor Chain, Open Sail . Her first full-length collection of poetry, Flinch of Song, was published in 2009 by Tupelo Press, and won the Tupelo Press/Crazyhorse First Book Prize...

, Kerri French

Kerri French

-Life:Originally from North Carolina, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro's Master of Fine Arts program in 2006. She has taught at Boston University and Mount Ida College...

, Seth Abramson

Seth Abramson

Seth Abramson is an American poet, attorney, editor, and freelance journalist.-Life:Abramson is a graduate of Dartmouth College, Harvard Law School, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop...

, Stephanie Rogers

Stephanie Rogers

-Life:Originally from Ohio, she graduated from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro's Master of Fine Arts program in 2007. She has also studied at The Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati...

, Rhett Iseman Trull, Anna Journey

Anna Journey

Anna Journey is an American poet who was recently awarded a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry.-Life:She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, with an MFA in creative writing....

 (2008 National Poetry Series

National Poetry Series

The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program.Every year since 1979 it has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry...

 winner), Zach Savich (2008 Iowa Poetry Prize

University of Iowa Press

The University of Iowa Press is a university press that is part of the University of Iowa.Established in 1969, the University of Iowa Press publishes books that fill the needs of scholars and students throughout the world, poetry and short fiction, and works of creative nonfiction...

 winner), Michael McGriff

Michael McGriff

-Life:He was raised in Coos Bay, Oregon.His work has appeared in Slate, Field, AGNI, The Believer, Missouri Review, and Poetry.He teaches at Stanford University.-Awards:* Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University...

 (2007 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize

The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is a major American literary award for a first full-length book of poetry in the English language.This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA was initiated by Ed Ochester and developed by Frederick A. Hetzel. The prize is...

 winner), Julie Larios (2006 Pushcart Prize

Pushcart Prize

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....

 winner), and recent Stegner Fellows

Stegner Fellowship

The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner , an historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty member who founded the university's creative writing program. Ten...

 Keith Ekiss, Robin Ekiss, Martha Greenwald, Dina Hardy, Peter Kline and Hemant Mohapatra

Hemant Mohapatra

Hemant Mohapatra is an Indian poet writing in English. He is featured in the 2011 Best New Poets series distributed by University of Virginia Press. His work has been published in various international journals such as Eclectica, BrinkLit, Asia Writes and the Paterson Literary Review as part of the...

.

Critical response

According to The Virginia Quarterly Review

The Virginia Quarterly Review

The Virginia Quarterly Review is a literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman...

:

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

David Wojahn

David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...

 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

ForeWord (magazine)

ForeWord is a trade journal published six times yearly with the tagline, “Reviews of Good Books Independently Published.” The magazine is distributed primarily to librarians and booksellers to familiarize them with upcoming books from small, independent, and university presses, as well as...

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..."