Best American Poetry 2018

by David Lehman and Dana Gioia

Published 18 September 2018
The 2018 edition of the Best American Poetry—“a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribune)—collects the most significant poems of the year, chosen by Poet Laureate of California Dana Gioia.

The guest editor for 2018, Dana Gioia, has an unconventional poetic background. Gioia has...Read more

Best American Poetry 2016

by David Lehman

Published 6 September 2016
The premier anthology of contemporary American poetry continues-guest edited this year by award-winning poet Edward Hirsch, a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and the president of The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

The Best American Poetry series is "a vivid snapshot of what a distinguished poet...Read more

The Best American Poetry 2013

by David Lehman

Published 10 September 2013
Beloved and inventive poet Denise Duhamel selects the poems for the 2013 edition of The Best American Poetry, “a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribune).

Over the last twenty-five years, the Best American Poetry series has become an annual rite of autumn, eagerly...Read more

The 2019 edition of The Best American Poetry-"one of the mainstays of the poetry publication world" (Academy of American Poets)-now guest edited by Major Jackson, award-winning poet and poetry editor of the Harvard Review.

Since 1988, The Best American Poetry has been the leading anthology of contemporary American...Read more

Every year since 1988 a major poet has selected seventy-five poems for publication in The Best American Poetry. The series has quickly grown in both sales and prestige, as poetry itself has seen a remarkable resurgence in popularity and vitality, fueled by established poets at the peak of their...Read more

The Best American Poetry

by David Lehman

Published 14 October 1996

Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winner and nineteenth US Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, The Best American Poetry 2017 brings together the most notable poems of the year in the series that offers “a vivid snapshot of what a distinguished poet finds exciting, fresh, and memorable” (Robert Pinsky).

Librarian of Congress...Read more

The Best American Poetry 2020

by David Lehman

Published 8 September 2020
The 2020 edition of contemporary American poetry returns, guest edited by Paisley Rekdal, the award-winning poet and author of Nightingale, proving that this is “a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribune).

Since 1988, The Best American Poetry anthology series has been “one...Read more

Matthew Zapruder picks the poems for the 2022 edition of The Best American Poetry, “a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribune).

Since 1988, The Best American Poetry series has been “one of the mainstays of the poetry publication world” (Academy of American Poets)....Read more

The Best American Poetry 2023

by David Lehman

Published 5 September 2023
Award-winning poet Elaine Equi selects the poems for the 2023 edition of The Best American Poetry, “a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribune).

Since its debut in 1988, The Best American Poetry series has been “one of the mainstays of the poetry publication...Read more

Renowned poet Mary Jo Salter, whose command of verse forms and high intelligence is universally acknowledged, selects the poems for the 2024 edition of The Best American Poetry, “a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribune).

The Best American Poetry series has been “one...Read more

The Best American Poetry 2025

by David Lehman

Published 2 September 2025
Guest edited by Terence Winch—NEA Fellow and editor of the “pick of the week” on the Best American Poetry blog—the 2025 edition marks a poignant farewell to series editor David Lehman, celebrating more than three decades of poetic excellence.

For thirty-eight years, The Best American Poetry series...Read more