I'm still relatively new to speculative poetry, so reading the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association's annual Rhysling Anthology is a bit of chore. That is, I have a lot of “well, that’s not really my thing” moments punctuated by a few “oh, yes, this one!” that keeps me reading. I feel this year I was better prepared to read the anthology and more open to the poetry. I especially welcomed the dearth of werewolf poems; I like werewolves just fine, but for some inexplicable reason I have a bias against poems about werewolves, and perhaps shapeshifters in general. Sorry!

Lots of good poems this year, but when I read the poems I later selected while voting for the Rhysling Awards, they really leapt out at me and I love them fiercely. Without revealing my specific picks, I'm really fond of the poems by Beth Cato, Amal El-Mohtar, Mary Soon Lee, Christina Sng, and D. A. Xiaolin Spires, and there were poems by new-to-me poets that are among my top three choices in both the short and long categories.

Read speculative poetry! Join SFPA! I'm glad I did.