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A review by mary_soon_lee
The 2023 Rhysling Anthology by Maxwell I. Gold
The annual Rhysling anthologies contain the finalists for that year's Rhysling Award for the best speculative poetry. The poems are divided into two categories: short (under 50 lines) and long (50+ lines). The anthologies provide excellent snapshots of speculative poetry.
As per usual, the 2022 anthology encompasses a wide variety in tone, form, and subject matter. There's science fiction, fantasy, horror, and some poems that border on mainstream.
I have just finished deliberating over which poems to pick for my Rhysling votes. 17 of the 50 short poems and 9 of the 25 long poems made my initial shortlist. After some hair-pulling, I narrowed that down to my three favorites for each length. As per my policy, I didn't vote for my own poems.
Recommended.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. In the case of poetry books, for various reasons, I often omit an overall star rating.
As per usual, the 2022 anthology encompasses a wide variety in tone, form, and subject matter. There's science fiction, fantasy, horror, and some poems that border on mainstream.
I have just finished deliberating over which poems to pick for my Rhysling votes. 17 of the 50 short poems and 9 of the 25 long poems made my initial shortlist. After some hair-pulling, I narrowed that down to my three favorites for each length. As per my policy, I didn't vote for my own poems.
Recommended.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. In the case of poetry books, for various reasons, I often omit an overall star rating.