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Best Gay Poetry 2008

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Synopsis

Best Gay Poetry is a new annual series collecting the best gay poems of the year before. It offers both poetry aficionados and casual gay readers an easy way to keep abreast of the field and find poems that speak to their experience. Editor Lawrence Schimel has brought together a diverse array of poems and voices, not merely in their poetic style and form, but also in how gay subjects and themes are addressed. Drawing on poems published in journals, anthologies, and single-author collections, Best Gay Poetry 2008 offers up the cream of the crop of what was published in 2007, gathered together in one handy volume. Featuring work from 50 gay poets, readers will find herein a mix of established poets and exciting new voices, including Carl Phillips, Rane Arroyo, David Bergman, Timothy Liu, Brad Gooch, Reginald Shepard, Jeff Mann, Steve Fellner, Jee Leong Koh, Steven Cordova, Jericho Brown, and many others. Best Gay Poetry 2008 also includes an annotated bibliographic round-up of relevant gay-interest poetry books published the year before, making it an invaluable research tool for both institutions and individuals.

Review

Fifty queer poets, from veteran Antler and newcomer Rane Arroyo to the late Reginald Shepherd and slam breakout star Emanuel Xavier, are represented in the debut of this labor-of-love series. In his introduction, Schimel laments that he first tried to interest publishers in the project a decade ago. Now his one-man publishing venture, A Midsummer Night’s Press, has collaborated with up-and-coming queer publisher Lethe Press to produce a savvy, well-edited snapshot of gay poems published in 2007. The quality of the work is reason enough to relish this collection, but Schimel adds bibliographic value to creative excellence by including generous contributor bios pointing to other work by the poets in the book, and - a real treat for hardcore fans of queer poetry - an extensive listing of recent anthologies and single-author titles for further reference. This addition to the range of “best of” queer titles promises to become a stellar showcase for the genre; Best Lesbian Poetry 2008 is coming soon.

-- Richard Labonte, Books to Watch Out For