When I became a bird, Lord, nothing could not stop me. The air feathered as I knelt by my open window for the charm - black on gold, last star of the dawn. - From 'Bird' by Liz Berry The Best British Poetry has rapidly become one of the UK's most noted collections. Now in its third edition, Salt Publishing is proud to present this thoroughly inspirational selection from this year's best poets. Offering a completely comprehensive guide for enthusiastic readers and students, this anthology focuses on poems, not poets. Carefully chosen from a wide range of the UK's best print and online magazines, these poems spring to life on the page, breathtakingly original and varied in tone, illuminating, moving and unexpected. From big names such as David Harsent, Alan Jenkins, Ruth Padel and Sean O'Brien, to the wonderful work of Leontia Flynn, Mark Waldron and Charlotte Geater, this collection speaks for itself. The Best British Poetry 2013 concludes with just short biographical details and comments from each of sixty-eight featured poets, lending it a personal and revealing touch. A must for the bookshelf of the poetry amateur and aficionado alike.

WINNER—BEST POETRY—GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEAST NATIONAL BESTSELLER Billy Collins is widely acknowledged as a prominent player at the table of modern American poetry. And in this smart, lyrical, and mischievous collection of poetry, which covers the everlasting themes of love and loss, youth and aging, solitude and union, Collins’s verbal gifts are on full display. Note to Readers: adjusting the size of the type on your e-reading device may affect the line formatting of this eBook. We have formatted the eBook so that any words that get bumped to a new line in a poem will be noticeably indented.

It's a nervy thing for an anthology to label itself Best New Poets, but once again the collection lives up to its name. It's a rich and readable selection, reflecting no party-line aesthetic, and attesting to the formidable promise of the emerging generation. --David Wojahn.

As contemporary poets sing the glories of birds and birch trees, regular guys are left scratching their heads. Who can speak for Everyman? Who will articulate his love for Xbox 360, for Mama Celeste’s frozen pizza, for the cinematic oeuvre of Bruce Willis? Enter Broetry—a stunning debut from a dazzling new literary voice. “Broet Laureate” Brian McGackin goes where no poet has gone before—to Star Wars conventions, to frat parties, to video game tournaments, and beyond. With poems like “Ode to That Girl I Dated for, Like, Two Months Sophomore Year” and “My Friends Who Don’t Have Student Loans,” we follow the Bro from his high school graduation and college experience through a “quarter-life crisis” and beyond.

"In Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split the beauty of language soars and saves us even as we skirt the raw edge of terror. And something rare and precious is restored, a light, a circling movement of the spirit. This is poetry to give thanks for."---Meena Alexander, author of Quickly Changing River --

"David Orr is no starry-eyed cheerleader for contemporary poetry; Orr’s a critic, and a good one. . . . Beautiful & Pointless is a clear-eyed, opinionated, and idiosyncratic guide to a vibrant but endangered art form, essential reading for anyone who loves poetry, and also for those of us who mostly just admire it from afar." —Tom Perrotta Award-winning New York Times Book Review poetry columnist David Orr delivers an engaging, amusing, and stimulating tour through the world of poetry. With echoes of Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer, Orr’s Beautiful & Pointless offers a smart and funny approach to appreciating an art form that many find difficult to embrace.