Previous guest editors include George Garrett (2005), Eric Pankey (2006), Natasha Trethewey (2007), Mark Strand (2008), Kim Addonizio (2009), Claudia Emerson (2010), D. A. Powell (2011), Matthew Dickman (2012), Brenda Shaughnessy (2013), Dorianne Laux (2014) Tracy K.
[1] (2015), Mary Szybist (2016), Natalie Diaz (2017), Kyle Dargan (2018), Cate Marvin (2019), Brian Teare (2020), Kaveh Akbar (2021), Paula Bohince (2022), Anna Journey (2023), and Anders Carlson-Wee (2024).
The series, begun by University of Virginia professor Jeb Livingood in 2005 (edited by poet Jazzy Danziger from 2011 to 2015), has published a number of notable writers since its inception, including Diana Vlavianos, Deborah Ager, Craig Blais, Christina Duhig, Cynthia Lowen, Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet, Jennifer Militello, Kerri French, Seth Abramson, Stephanie Rogers, Rhett Iseman Trull, Anna Journey (2008 National Poetry Series winner), Zach Savich (2008 Iowa Poetry Prize winner), Michael McGriff (2007 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize winner), Julie Larios (2006 Pushcart Prize winner), Alysia Nicole Harris, recent Stegner Fellows Keith Ekiss, Robin Ekiss, Kai Carlson-Wee, Edgar Kunz, Chelsea Bunn, Martha Greenwald, Dina Hardy, Sara Michas-Martin, Peter Kline, and Kimberly Grey, as well as Tarfia Faizullah, Ocean Vuong, Sam Sax, Leila Chatti, Phillip B. Williams, Tiana Clark, Peter LaBerge, Jameson Fitzpatrick, Fatimah Asghar, Anders Carlson-Wee, and Kaveh Akbar.
Of the 2013 edition, Publishers Weekly wrote: The work, much of it nominated by university writing programs and literary journals, is diverse in voice and subject matter, providing an effective barometer of contemporary American poetry...The poems seem to owe as much to 20th-century traditions as to the spirit of invention, and, as such, are a reminder that contemporary poetry is not only alive and well but continuing to evolve.
Emerging, whether intentionally or not, as a younger sibling to the Best American Poetry anthologies, this series breaks new ground and provides fresh treasures.