The Best British Poetry 2015 (2015) - Softcover

[T]his is an excellent collection, imaginatively and fairly edited, making it easily one of the books that every reader of poetry wanting to know about new British and Irish poetry should own.

(Todd Swift)

Too often the British mainstream turns a blind eye to the exciting things happening on its fringes. Warner’s selections, however, emphasise freshness of language, multiplicity of perspective, and formal experiment. In so doing, they offer a tantalising glimpse of transatlantic sympathy, rather than divide.

(Dai George Boston Review)

This is more than a collection of poetry, it is a resource. Each poem is accompanied by notes about the writer, and the writer’s notes about his or her poem. Indeed the end notes are so comprehensive they take up about a quarter of the book.

(Barrie Llewellyn New Welsh Review)

[A] fascinating snapshot of contemporary poetic tastes and trends.

(Greg Freeman Write Out Loud)

Lumsden hosts a supremely eclectic party for 85 "new" British and Irish poets – more women than men, for once – whose newness turns on book-length debuts within the past 15 years rather than calendar age.

(Boyd Tonkin The Independent)

Salt Publishing and Roddy Lumsden have come up with a British parallel to the well established Best American Poetry Series overseen by David Lehman. The first editor is Lumsden himself, to be followed by Sasha Dugdale next year. While the initial volume is a largely mainstream selection (with, strangely, not a prose poem in sight), it possesses greater energy and range than the annual Forward Book of Poetry, as evidenced in poems by Gillian Allnutt, Amy De'Ath, and Chris McCabe, among others.

(Carrie Etter)

The Best British Poetry 2011, edited by Roddy Lumsden, is an anthology of meticulous compilation: after a year spent foraging in the various British literary magazines, Lumsden has gathered 70 poems – representing 70 poets. In a format openly indebted to The Best American Poetry series, each poet has in turn commented on their poem’s inception. Fundamental to the nature of this collection is the method of the editor; this is not an anthology of the most celebrated contemporary poets. Rather than being selected by virtue of reputation, each poet wins their place in this book by having a single good poem published in a magazine this year.

(Aime Williams The Oxonian Review)

... what would do we learn about contemporary poetry from this collection? Well, first, the standard is high. All of the poems are at least competent; clearly there are very many people who devote their lives to the art of poetry, and this is borne out by the results on show here.

(Alan Baker Stride Magazine)

"Your indispensable guide to the poetry of these islands, now in its fifth year" The Best British Poetry presents the finest and most engaging poems found in literary magazines and webzines over the past year. The material gathered represents the rich variety of current UK poetry. Each poem is accompanied by a note by the poet explaining the inspiration for the poem. Featuring: Aria Misha Aber, Astrid Alben, Rachael Allen, Janette Ayachi, Tara Bergin, Crispin Best, Amy Blakemore, Sarah Boulton, Kit Buchan, Sam Buchan-Watts, Miles Burrows, Niall Campbell, Vahni Capildeo, Kayo Chingonyi, Sophie Collins, Claire Crowther, Paula Cunningham, Jesse Darling, Patricia Debney, Ian Duhig, Joe Dunthorne, Francine Elena, Inua Ellams, Andrew Elliott, Victoria Field, Annie Freud, Matthew Gregory, David Hart, Selima Hill, Sarah Howe, Kathleen Jamie, Tom Jenks, Luke Kennard, Amy Key, Kate Kilalea, Caleb Klaces, Zaffar Kunial, Daisy Lafarge, Melissa Lee-Houghton, Dorothy Lehane, Fran Lock, Adam Lowe, Chris McCabe, Amy McCauley, Alex MacDonald, Andrew McMillan, Kathryn Maris, Sophie Mayer, Kim Moore, Salah Niazi, Jeremy Over, Bobby Parker, Rebecca Perry, Holly Pester, Heather Phillipson, Padraig Regan, Sam Riviere, Sophie Robinson, Jessica Schouela, Stephen Sexton, Penelope Shuttle, Hannah Silva, Marcus Slease, Greta Stoddart, Chloe Stopa-Hunt, Rebecca Tamás, Jack Underwood, Mark Waldron, Megan Watkins, Karen McCarthy Woolf and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch