The Best American Poetry 2002

Since its inception in 1988,The Best American Poetryseries has achieved brand-name status in the literary world as the preeminent showcase of each year's most important contributions to American poetry. This year's exceptional volume, edited by Robert Creeley, a figure revered across teh wide spectrum of American poetry, features a diverse mix of established masters, rising stars and the leading lights of a younger generation. The pleasure of the poems selected here, Creeley explains in his introduction, is "that they caught my fancy, some almost outrageously, some by their quiet, nearly diffident manner, some by unexpected turns of thought or insight, others by a confident authority and intent." With comments from the poets elucidating their work, a thought-provoking introduction from Creeley, and Lehman's always popular foreword assessing the current state of poetry,The Best American Poetry 2002will prove as irresistible to new readers as it is indispensable for poetry fans everywhere.

Robert Creeley was born in Arlington, Massachusetts in 1926. In the 1950s he taught at Black Mountain College and edited The Black Mountain Review. Since 1966 he has taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Creeley was New York State Poet from 1989 to 1991, and his many volumes of poetry include For Love, Pieces, and Memory Gardens. He lives in Buffalo, New York, and in Waldoboro, Maine.