Best Poetry Books of 2011 - J. A. Tyler

J.A. Tyler's selections:

If I Falter at the Gallows by Edward Mullany (Publishing Genius Press)

Entrance to a colonial pageant in which we all begin to intricate by Johannes Goransson (Tarpaulin Sky Press)

Shot by Christine Hume (Counterpath Press)

I Ain't Asked Any Pardon For Anything I Done by Sasha Fletcher (Greying Ghost)

The Trees The Trees by Heather Christle (Octopus Books)

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J. A. Tyler is the author of four novels, including A Man of Glass & All the Ways We Have Failed from Fugue State Press. His work has appeared with Black Warrior Review, Caketrain, Diagram, New York Tyrant, and others. For more info, visit: www.chokeonthesewords.com.

Best Poetry Books of 2011 - Jessy Randall

Jessy Randall's selections:

Excuse Me While I Wring This Long Swim Out of My Hair by Sarah J. Sloat (Dancing Girl Press)
If you like the title poem, you will like this whole book.

Invisible Strings by Jim Moore (Graywolf Press)
Jim Moore gets better and better with every book. His poems are funny and full of love. You will get the sense that he likes you, and you like him.

The Sliding Glass Door by Scott Poole (Colonus Publishing)
For people who think it would be a good idea to read a poem called "Thoughts on Chewbacca." And really, what kind of person wouldn't want to read that?

Thirteen Designer Vaginas by Juliet Cook (Hyacinth Girl Press)
The only chapbook I know with a vajazzled cover.

Dog Ear by Erica Baum (Ugly Duckling Presse)
These poems, or should I say "poems," no I will just say poems, are made by photographing carefully dog-eared pages of printed books. You'll see. It's cool.


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Jessy Randall's newest book is Interruptions: Collaborative Poems, written with Daniel M. Shapiro (Pecan Grove Press, 2011). Find out more at http://personalwebs.coloradocollege.edu/~jrandall/writer.html.

Best Poetry Books of 2011 - Laynie Browne

Laynie Browne's selections:

Studying Hunger Journals by Bernadette Mayer (Station Hill)

Culture of One by Alice Notley (Penguin)

How Phenomena Appear to Unfold by Leslie Scalapino (Litmus Press)

In the Time of the Blue Ball by Manuela Draeger, translated by Brian Evenson (Dorothy Publishing Project)

Address by Elizabeth Willis (Wesleyan University Press)

The Ravickians by Renee Gladman (Dorothy Publishing Project)

Schizophrene by Bhanu Kapil (Nightboat)

Light, Grass & Letter by Inger Christenson (New Directions)

Drizzle Pocket by Tim Roberts (BlazeVOX)

Both Poems by Anne Tardos (Roof Books)

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Laynie Browne's most recent books include Roseate, Points of Gold (2011, Dusie) and The Desires of Letters (Counterpath, 2011). Soon out is an anthology she co-edited: I'll Drown My Book: Conceptual Writing by Women (Les Figues Press, 2011, co-editors Carolyn Bergvall, Teresa Carmody, & Vanessa Place).

Best Poetry Books of 2011 - Gary L. McDowell

Gary L. McDowell's selections:

Traffic with Macbeth by Larissa Szporluk (Tupelo)

Orphan, Indiana by David Dodd Lee (Akron UP)

Ladies & Gentlemen by Michael Robins (Saturnalia)

Dear Editor by Amy Newman (Persea)

The Black Ocean by Brian Barker (SIU--Crab Orchard Series in Poetry)

Trancelumination by John Bradley (Lowbrow Press)

Darling Endangered by Carol Guess (Brooklyn Arts Press)

Events Film Cannot Withstand by Zach Savich (Rescue Press)

We Almost Disappear by David Bottoms (Copper Canyon)

We Are Starved by Joshua Kyrah (Center for Literary Publishing)

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Gary L. McDowell is the author of American Amen (Dream Horse Press, 2010), winner of the 2009 Orphic Prize for Poetry, and co-editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry (Rose Metal Press, 2010). His poems have appeared in various literary journals, including Colorado Review, The Indiana Review, New England Review, Ninth Letter, and Quarterly West. His poems, stories, and essays are forthcoming in Ancora Imparo, Hobart, PANK, Burnside Review, DIAGRAM, Tusculum Review, Mid-American Review, and others. He lives in Nashville, TN with his wife and their two kids where he is an Assistant Professor of creative writing at Belmont University.

Best Poetry Books of 2011 - Kim Roberts

Kim Roberts selections:

I selected six poets with strong ties to Washington, DC, who released new books in 2011, and whose books are highly recommended and deserve a wide readership.

Words Facing East by Kimberly L. Becker (WordTech Editions)
Includes a remarkable series of poems about learning Cherokee

A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos by Tim Dlugos, edited by David Trinidad (Nightboat Books)
Includes some never-before-published work, arranged chronologically by the city where he was living when he wrote the poems.

Second-Skin Rhinestone-Spangled Nude Souffle Chiffon Gown by Landon Godfrey (Cider Press)
Poems about fashion that sparkle and surprise--and never stay just on the surface.

Little Boy Blue: A Memoir in Verse by Gray Jacobik (CavanKerry Press)
A heartbreaking series of poems on parenting and self-forgiveness.

Meanwhile by Kathleen O'Toole (WordTech Editions)
Poems of quiet attentiveness that read almost like prayer.

Falling Out of Bed in a Room with No Floor by Terence Winch (Hanging Loose Press)
Poems about friendships and family, in a narrative voice that is witty, playful, and sure.

also:

If it's not too self-serving to say, my own third book of poems, Animal Magnetism, was released this year from Pearl Editions. Of course I'd like to recommend that book too! Includes poems about medical museums and the imaginary husband series.

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Kim Roberts is the author of five books, most recently Animal Magnetism, winner of the Pearl Poetry Prize (Pearl Editions, 2011), and Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC (Plan B Press, 2010). She is a literary historian specializing in authors from Washington, DC. In November she presented a walking tour on Henry Adams at the DC Historical Studies Conference, and unveiled a new and comprehensive website, created with Dan Vera, called DC Writers' Homes. Since January 2000, she has edited the journal Beltway Poetry Quarterly.

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