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Lots of excellent poetry books went unsung in 2020. Here are a few I think you might enjoy. Some of these were more 'seen' than others, but I am sure all of them could do with a little push at the dim bookish end of the year.
I specialise in translated poetry, so I'd like to recommend Liminal by Laura Fusco tr. by @CarolineMaldon3 – a work giving voice to the refugees in Italian camps. Also Anna Gréki's Streets of Algiers tr. by Souheila Haïmiche & Cristina Viti, a poetic record of Algerian traumas.
Also by Smokestack, Vasili Tyorkin, in James Womack's translation. Actually add to that @lieutenantkije's own wonderful Homunculus, not-quite-a-translation, but a compelling brilliant invention of his own ( @Carcanet).
Carcanet are my publisher but without bias I can say I have enjoyed a number of @Carcanet releases this year. @EvanPJones has produced a magnificent Cavafy, but also his own Later Emperors, which seems to sepamlessly merge classical historical decline with our own.
I helped launch Chameleon | Nachtroer by Dutch poet Charlotte van den Broeck @BloodaxeBooks – in @david_colmer's pitch perfect translation. A really stunning work of surreality and voice. From Bloodaxe too, the superb 'Belongings' by David Constantine, incl. new Hölderlin.
The Sea Needs no Ornament, a bilingual anthology @peepaltreepress of Caribbean Women's poetry. This is a various and delightful read which sent me off searching for individual poets' books. My other anthology recommendation: the heartfelt On Poetry by Jonathan Davidson
Samira Negrouche in Marilyn Hacker's translation, The Olive Trees' Jazz has stayed with me for its lyrical precision and underlying revolutionary qualities. Hiromi Ito is another such revolutionary writer, who can change things subtly inside the reader. Tr. by Jeffrey Angles.
The @PoetryTranslate have finally given us a dose of big-hearted Ribka Sibhatu in @anaffissahely translation. Her Lampedusa needs to be read regularly! Albanian poet Gëzim Hajdari in Ian Seed's translation (Shearsman) is pure astounding lyric.
From the US I am so glad to have found Shane McCrae's powerful lyrical work, the triptych ending 'Sometimes I Never Suffered' is powerful stuff. I've also been introduced to Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge and her Treatise on Stars is another book that is changing me.
The poet @DonMeeChoi is finally finding the readership and acclaim she deserves in the US, but perhaps not so much here. Her DMZ Colony is remarkable. She also worked with @daybreakjung on the new translations of Korean modernist Yi Sang. Essential reads.
What else have I loved? Among UK books the Martian's Regress by J. O. Morgan and The Coming Down Time by @RESelby, @jjhlinklater's elegant & achieved pamphlet Figure a Motion & @GBClarkson's astounding @NineArchesPress Monica's Overcoat of Flesh
I've listed here a few books that for one reason or another seem to have been less noted, but this is just a selection. Feel free to add to the list. 2020 was hard for writers, publishers & booksellers, and I wanted to advocate for some stunning reads you may have missed.
