[2] In 2023, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association voted to allow poets entry into its organization, for the first time since its 1965 inception.
[3] Much of the Romantic poetry of the 19th century used techniques that are seen in modern fantasy literature such as retellings of classical mythology and European folklore, both to show alternative angles in the stories and to explore social issues.
One of the most celebrated of these poems, Christina Rossetti's 1862 "Goblin Market", still remains a relatively popular source of critical debate.
[4] Andrew Joron wrote in 1981 that over the past decade in the United States, "it was possible to create a tradition, that established and defined the genre" of science fiction poetry.
They were succeeded by more serious venues including the US-based The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF) (1949–), the UK-based flagship of the New Wave movement New Worlds while it was under the editorship of Michael Moorcock between 1964 and 1970, and the annual reprint anthologies of F&SF and The Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Judith Merril.
[10] Important collections in this area include the 1985 anthology of predominantly Science-published poems Songs from Distant Worlds.
One of the most memorable poets that specializes in this genre is Edgar Allan Poe, with works focusing heavily on the macabre and death aspects.
Some weird poetry will describe timeless geological forces or the night sky, trying to harness the feeling of dread to a wider and sublime 'cosmic awe' about mankind's insignificance in the universe.
They may describe or hint at unreal nature-defying events which occur in otherwise normal places - although without the overt technical explanation found in science fiction, and without the violence and sadism common to modern post-1970 horror.