Best Canadian Poetry 2021 by Souvankham Thammavongsa

Best Canadian Poetry 2021 Reviews

• 
  George Ilsley

  An anthology of 50 poems by Canadian writers from a wide range of sources published in 2020.
  
  Standouts for me on the first reading were “Dawson” (unexpected delights of summer in a Gold Rush town in the Klondike, by Emily Pohl-Weary) and “The Peace Lily” (the struggle keeping a supermarket flower alive and the relief finally letting it go, by Kayla Czaga).
  
  Almost a third of the book is contributor commentaries on their poem, which provide background and insight into process and sources of inspiration.
  
  A friend of mine says there are 49 poets here, and then they scrape the bottom of the barrel. It goes unsaid, but there is a strong implication that I might be the one at the bottom of that barrel, looking up. It’s not Margaret Atwood, that’s for sure.
• 
  Spencer Folkins

  I re-read many of the poems—sometimes multiple times—because, by the time I got to the end (or part way through), I wanted to rediscover the poem again, this time knowing where it was taking me. I really enjoyed this anthology and will love to revisit the poems in it.
• 
  suzanna

  Personal Favourites: David Romanda, Kayla Czaga, Dani Couture, Kitty Cheung, George K Ilsley, David Ezra Wang
• 
  Nina

  I liked about half of the poems. Some were not so accessible. Slight bump up to 3 stars because Canadian bias.
  I didn't like the arrangement of poems in the front and blurbs in the back. I flipped back and forth to read the explanations that authors wrote. Sometimes I really needed the explanations because I had no idea what was going on. The poems were alphabetical by title, and authors were alphabetical by last name, which was understandable but annoying.
  I borrowed this from the library because I flipped to a random poem that caught my eye; also I saw Margaret Atwood.
  The random poem was a list of one-star reviews of Alice Munro's Dear Life. The author's explanation was snobby and elitist. I like Alice Munro, some of her stories are very memorable, but Dear Life did get pretty boring. The bad reviews were kind of accurate, and at least used their own words to express an idea.
• 
  Christopher Nilssen

  BCP '21 is the first poetry book I've read from cover to cover, though I will admit to glossing over the author's notes. I dislike reading the hows and whys of craft.
  If anything, reading this text has shown me where I can submit my work for "proper" publication, should I ever choose to do so.
  I gave it full stars because I couldn't see a reason not to. I don't really know what makes a book of poems "good" or "bad". It was certainly readable.
• 
  Dorothy Mahoney

  A slim volume. (So glad the poets are not alphabetical.) The commentaries beneath their biographies provide interesting insights.
• 
  Sohrab

  This book showed that there is a reason that still British and American poetry rule the world of Anglophone literature. Specifically, the tendency towards prose poetry (a fad in the 90s which time is far passed) was ridiculous.
• 
  Abbigail K

  A lovely collection compiled by Thammavongsa. I was happy to see a diverse assembly of Canadian poets with big-name poets like Margret Atwood and newer poets from across Canada who submitted beautiful pieces. I enjoy reading selections like these as they let me taste-test many different poets' works so I can look into any that pique my interest — I look forward to 2022's selection next year.
• 
  Jade

  Some of the poems, I adored. Others were ok, but still enjoyable.
  
  Favorites:
  i tell my mother everything by Tina Do
  Thanks for Asking by Roxanna Bennett
  True Value by Liz Howard
  Ways to Nurture a Name by Yohani Mendis
  What is True by Susan Musgrave