Critics choose the best poetry of 2005

from the National Book Critics Circle:
“Finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards”
“The Board of the National Book Critics Circle has selected the finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards for the publishing year 2005 in the categories of fiction, general nonfiction, biography, autobiography (new this year), criticism and poetry. The nominees were announced by the writers Edmund White, Daniel Mendelsohn, Sharon Olds, Richard Howard, Joyce Johnson, Ted Conover and Colson Whitehead at an NBCC reception at McNally/Robinson Booksellers in New York City January 19.... The winners will be announced on March 3 at the organization’s 32nd annual awards ceremony. At the ceremony, the NBCC will also present the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award to Bill Henderson, founder of the Pushcart Press in Wainscot, NY and editor of the annual Pushcart Prize anthology. .

“The National Book Critics Circle is the country’s leading organization of book critics and book review editors, with some 500 members. It was founded in 1974 to honor book criticism in all media, and to create a means for critics, reviewers and their editors to communicate with one another about their profession.”

Here are the nominees, with links to buy the books online. We can’t help but notice that all the nominated poets are male. One, Jack Gilbert, is an elder statesman among poets. Another, Simon Armitage, is well known in Britain but the nominated book is his first American publication. The other three men -- Blas Manuel de Luna, Richard Siken & Ron Slate -- are nominated for their first published books.

Related resources:
Our Poetry Store
Our list of the best poetry books of 2005