The McSweeney's Book of Poets Picking Poets

When thinking of an anthology to use for my creative writing class next term, I looked at a lot of them. By far my favorite is The McSweeney's Book of Poets Picking Poets. It is hands down one of the most vibrant and interesting anthologies I have ever come across. It contains poems from established names like Charles Simic and Yusef Komunyakaa alongside names that were, at least to me, new. Like Brandon Som, for instance, whose two poems in the collection are terrifically brilliant. This book was compiled based on little poetry "chains" - ten of them, in fact - of poets picking poets (hence, the title of the book). The end result is diverse in terms of style and contributors and manages to escape the politically correct/canonically forced sterility of so many anthologies. I urge you to buy it.