Robert Lashley reading tonight!

The programming inspired by this year’s Whatcom READS title, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, includes a poetry reading by Robert Lashley, one of this year’s judges for the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest. The book is terrific, the reading, this evening, Thursday, January 14, 2021, at 7:00pm, is free, and sign-in information is here.

a few more bests

The 2020 best-of posts keep showing up, so here are a few more for your reading list:

• Amanda Earl – Vizpo Dahlings of 2020
• Largehearted Boy – Favorite poetry collections of 2020
• Literary Hub – Booksellers Recommend: The Best Under-the-Radar Books of 2020
• Seattle Public Library – 2020 Poetry Revisited

last best for 2020

While the year’s best-of selections may continue into the early months of 2021, this will be our final post for 2020 and the latest collection of favorites.

• Boston Globe – Best Books of 2020
• Hyperallergic – This Be the Verse: Our Favorite Poetry Books of 2020
• Literary Hub – Rabih Alameddine’s Year in Reading: Poetry Edition
• Morning Star – Best of 2020: Poetry
• The Paris Review – The Paris Review Staff’s Favorite Books of 2020
• PEN America – Literary Awards longlist
• School Library Journal – 2020 Children’s Poetry

Happy reading… and Happy New Year!

more titles

Even as the critics and publications are declaring their favorites for 2020, they are still offering up current recommendations, such as:

• Electric Lit – New Poetry Collections that Highlight the Diversity of Latinx Identity
• The Millions – Must-Read Poetry: December 2020
• The New York Times – New & Noteworthy Poetry, From Eavan Boland to the African-American Canon
• PEN America – Transgender Awareness Week: A Reading List

a little something

Here’s a little something from the University of Arizona Poetry Center. In “Looking Back, Looking Forward,” Library Specialist Julie Swarstad Johnson suggests making a simple folded book, known as a pants book, and using the pages to explore the liminal space between the old year and the new. There’s a short instructive video and a handful of prompts to encourage you.

Best-of, round 3

Here’s another batch of the best for 2020:

• CBC – The best Canadian poetry of 2020
• The Irish Times – Best poetry books of 2020: New discoveries and final gifts (available to subscribers only)
• Kirkus – Best Picture-Book Poetry of 2020
• Literary Hub – The Best Reviewed Books of 2020: Poetry Collections
• The New York Times – Best Poetry of 2020
• Poetry School – Poetry Books of the Year 2020
• Publishers Weekly – Best Books 2020: Poetry

What’s on your best-of-2020 list?

Best-of, round 2

Here’s another batch of best-of-2020 books. Some lists mix the genres together, so you have to browse or search for the poetry — but they all include poetry and some of the same titles appear on list after list.

• Book Riot – Best Books of 2020
• Esquire – The Best Books to Elevate Your Reading List in 2020
• Five Books – The Best Poetry Books of 2020
• The Guardian – The best books of 2020 – picked by our acclaimed guest authors
• Goodreads Choice Awards 2020 – Best Poetry
• Library Journal – Best Poetry of 2020
• Literary Hub – Our 65 Favorite Books of the Year
• The Undefeated – Our 25 can’t-miss books of 2020

If these recommendations inspire you to shop, please support independent bookstores!

good news for poetry

We’ve mentioned the Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, and here’s an update: the list of books available for 2020-2021 includes poetry! Specifically, eight of the 33 titles:

• Stephanie Burt, Advice from the Lights
• Emily Dickinson, The Essential Emily Dickinson
• Joy Harjo, An American Sunrise
• Joy Harjo, How We Became Human
• David Tomas Martinez, Hustle
• Adrian Matejka, The Big Smoke
• Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric
• Alberto Ríos, A Small Story About the Sky

Well done, poets!

Best-of season!

Let it begin! We’ve been tracking recommendations all year long and now it’s time for the pundits to weigh in on the best poetry books of 2020. Here is the first round of top titles:

• Financial Times – Best books of 2020: Poetry
• The Guardian – Best poetry books of 2020
• The New York Public Library – Introducing NYPL’s Best Books of 2020
• The New York Times Book Review – 100 Notable Books of 2020
• The Telegraph – The best poetry books of 2020
• The Washington Post – Best poetry collections of 2020

National Book Awards

Congratulations to poet Don Mee Choi, whose book DMZ Colony (Wave Books) was named winner of the 2020 National Book Award in Poetry. Poetry finalists are Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, A Treatise on Stars (New Directions), Tommye Blount, Fantasia for the Man in Blue (Four Way Books), Anthony Cody, Borderland Apocrypha
(Omnidawn Publishing), and Natalie Diaz, Postcolonial Love Poem
(Graywolf Press).

See a complete list of winners and finalists in all categories, watch the November 18 awards ceremony, meet the 5 Under 35 Honorees for 2020, and read about the 2020 National Book Awards Judges.