''The Pittsburgh Book of Contemporary American Poetry'' is a literary

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

of American poetry commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the

Pitt Poetry Series The ''Pitt Poetry Series'', published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, is one of the largest and best known lists of contemporary American poetry. History The Pitt Poetry Series was established in 1968 by pre ...

(1968–1993), one of the most prominent in the United States. The book provides lengthy selections—about three hundred lines of verse—of the forty-five poets who were in print with the series in its twenty-fifth anniversary year. During this period, first under the editorship of Paul Zimmer, and then

Ed Ochester Edwin Frank Ochester (born September 15, 1939 Brooklyn, New York) is an American poet and editor. He was educated at Cornell University, Harvard University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Currently he is a core faculty member of the B ...

, 156 books by 102 poets were published. The collection was edited by

and

Peter Oresick Peter Oresick ( ; September 8, 1955 – September 3, 2016) was an American poet. Oresick was best known as the editor of '' Working Classics'', a landmark literary anthology of working-class poetry, and as a publisher. He served in senior posi ...

, both of the University of Pittsburgh.

Selected Poets in ''The Pittsburgh Book of Contemporary American Poetry''

Claribel Alegría Clara Isabel Alegría Vides (May 12, 1924 – January 25, 2018), also known by her pseudonym Claribel Alegría, was a Nicaraguan-Salvadoran poet, essayist, novelist, and journalist who was a major voice in the literature of contemporary Central Am ...

Maggie Anderson Maggie Anderson (born September 23, 1948) is an American poet and editor with roots in Appalachia. Education and beginning of career Anderson attended West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1966–68 and earned a bachelor's degree in English, wit ...

Siv Cedering Siv Cedering (February 5, 1939 – November 17, 2007) was a Swedish-American poet, writer, and artist. She occasionally published as Siv Cedering Fox. Early life Siv Cedering was born 30 kilometers south of the arctic circle in rural Överkali ...

· Toi Derricotte · Stuart Dybek ·

David Huddle David Ross Huddle (born July 11, 1942) is an American writer and professor. His poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Esquire'', '' Harper's Magazine'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''Story'', ''The Autumn H ...

Lawrence Joseph Lawrence Joseph (born 1948 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American poet, writer, essayist, critic, lawyer, and professor of law. Early life and education Lawrence Joseph was born in 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. Joseph's grandparents, Lebanese Mar ...

Julia Kasdorf Julia Mae Spicher Kasdorf (born December 6, 1962) is an American poet. Early years and education Born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Julia Spicher grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh near Irwin, Pennsylvania, Irwin, Westmor ...

Etheridge Knight Etheridge Knight (April 19, 1931 – March 10, 1991) was an African-American poet who made his name in 1968 with his debut volume, '' Poems from Prison''. The book recalls in verse his eight-year-long sentence after his arrest for robbery in 1960. ...

· Ted Kooser · Larry Levis ·

Peter Meinke Peter Meinke (born 1932 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American poet and author. He has published 18 books of poems and short stories. ''The Piano Tuner'', won the 1986 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. His poetry has received many awards, ...

· Carol Muske ·

Leonard Nathan Leonard E. Nathan, (November 8Professor and Poet ‘Loved To Play With the Langu ...

· Sharon Olds · Alicia Ostriker · Richard Shelton ·

Betsy Sholl Elizabeth "Betsy" Sholl (born 1945) is an American poet who was poet laureate of Maine from 2006 to 2011 and has authored nine collections of poetry. Sholl has received several poetry awards, including the 1991 AWP Award, and the 2015 Maine Liter ...

· Gary Soto ·

David Wojahn David Wojahn (born 1953, St. Paul, Minnesota) is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts ...

References

* {{Pittsburgh 1993 poetry books American poetry anthologies University of Pittsburgh Press books