After 38 years, 38 anthologies and two greatest hits collections, “The Best American Poetry” series is concluding with its 2025 edition.
David Lehman, who conceived the series in 1987, launched it in 1988 and has overseen it with a rotating list of guest editors ever since, made it clear that the decision to shutter the book series was his alone.
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“No, it’s my choice,” says the poet, writer and teacher during a phone interview on Thursday. “I think it’s time to undergo new adventures.”
The series publisher Scribner echoed Lehman’s words, sharing a statement about its conclusion, which arrives on Sept. 2. “‘The Best American Poetry 2025’ is the final volume in the acclaimed series, as founding editor David Lehman retires after 38 years of visionary leadership. Guest edited by poet Terence Winch, this landmark edition offers a vibrant selection of contemporary voices and serves as a fitting tribute to a series that has shaped and celebrated American poetry for nearly four decades.”
(For clarity, Mariner/HarperCollins’s “The Best American” anthologies of essays, short stories, mystery, suspense, science fiction, fantasy and more, aren’t going anywhere. “The Scribner series is completely separate from The Best American Series,” a Mariner rep says of its series, which first launched in 1915. “We are published annually with no end in sight.” The next batch hit stores Oct. 25.)
Covers of recent “The Best American Poetry” editions. (Courtesy of Scribner)
Lehman, who has a book of poetry coming out in February entitled “Ithaca,” says he’s proud of the decades he spent producing the project, as well as the writers and editors whose work has appeared on or influenced its pages, including Anne Carson, Billy Collins, Charles Simic, Denise Duhamel, Louise Glück, Natasha Trethewey, Major Jackson, Dana Gioia and many others.
The series demonstrates the richness and value of American poetry, he says.
“You’re representing all the diverse voices, the many kinds of poems, the many regions of our country, the many different schools or cliques or what have you. But we’re also, I think, representing poetry as an endeavor,” he says.
“The word ‘Best’ in our title makes an aggressive claim,” he says. “But it’s worth making that claim for poetry and to be able to give it a full heart and great enthusiasm. So I’ve done that and worked very hard on it, and I’ve had the good fortune of working together with 40 different guest editors who have ranged from John Ashbery, A.R. Ammons, Mark Strand, Louise Glück, Adrienne Rich, Robert Hass, Rita Dove – it’s quite a long list.
“The best part is the knowledge that one is working for an end greater than oneself,” he says. “You’re serving the art.”
Along with previous volumes and the final edition out Sept. 2, Lehman stresses the work can be found online at the Best American Poetry blog, Facebook page and weekly email.
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