Marilyn Dumont

I recently realized that I had not explored much Canadian poetry beyond Margaret Atwood and Michael Crummey, so I set about to correct this. I picked up a copy of this book, and another The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry which I have not read yet.

This absorbing anthology features fifty poems In English, chosen from the 100s poems published in print and online journals over 2019. The editors note that while the anthology was published in 2020, the selection process was completed before the Covid era. Each of the three editors contribute a few pages, with the guest editor doing the short introduction. There are short bios of the poets featured and their comments on their poem.

I very much enjoyed this anthology. Skimming the list of contributors I realized I did not recognize ANY names. And apologies in advance to the Canadians reading this review for making the following comparison, but overall, I think this anthology is much better than any of the yearly “best of” American anthologies I’ve read. I’d be hard pressed to tell you exactly why. More accessible maybe? Less pretentious? More grounded? Perhaps just a larger percentage of the poetry “spoke” to me. I will look for this year’s offering, but also may look for any collections from a few individuals showcased.… (meer)