The Salt Book of Younger Poets

You can't tell from the picture, but this is a bumper book - a massive treasury, cleanly presented, which tells you more about what's really happening in British poetry than the last half decade of TS Eliot awards, Forward prizes and Guardian Saturday poems. Lumsden and Stonborough have plugged into an abundant vein of energy, ingenuity and optimism that should make even the most cynical person excited about the future of poetry in this country.Really, honestly, you should leave preconceived notions of what 'youthful' poetry means at the door. The poems here are neither part of a self-conscious, intellectually contrived 'movement' conceived in a university pub, nor post-adolescent lovelorn wailings. Rather, the range of techniques, influences and stylistic choices on display speak of a deference to many strong traditions, new and old, in British poetry, married to a restlesssness and compulsion to strike out in new directions. Conversely, there's no sense whatsoever of arrogance or entitlement or privileged chummery. If you're the kind of person whose mind is blown, your mind will be blown. If, like me, you tend to appreciate things more soberly and quietly, and with some initial reluctance, you'll still come round fairly quickly to just how good some of these poems are, and go on slowly discovering more to admire for weeks, or even months.If you still have your doubts, at least try to read Stonborough's introduction, which meets most imaginable misgivings head-on and, at the very least, gives them a run for their money.There are possible reasons, I suppose, to not get hold of a copy - if you find an abundance of young, engaged and talented people intimidating, it's sometimes a struggle to get through more than a couple of pages without turning to drink. Equally, if you're terrified of accidentally fancying someone much younger than you, be warned - there are photographs.

It is hard to keep tabs on all the up and coming talent and new voices in the poetry world, and this is why it is so brilliant to see a hearty selection of them collated here. The fact that each poet has a selection of 3-5 poems, a photo and a small biography is fantastic to get a real sense of each individual. Some poets are already becoming familiar faces and it will be exciting to see how they all progress. I have passed this book around the students I teach to give them an idea of what the most vibrant and exciting poetry is at the moment. They all had a lot of fun choosing their favourites and comparing/contrasting. Very inspiring stuff !

All of Salt's anthologies are brilliantly produced and structured. I thought their Short Stories 2011 was amazing, and then Poetry 2011 came along. Now we have the book of Younger Poets which not only matches, but in some respects surpasses the other anthologies. It is thoughtfully selected, produced in a way that makes it informative about these young poets, but most importantly the poetry could have been written by long established writers. It is so promising to read work of such quality by this generation. Poetry is alive and kicking and will be for some time.

A must-read if you're interested in the future of poetry! I have no doubt that many of the wonderful voices in this anthology are important poets whose work we will be reading for many years to come. And there is such a variety of stimulating, funny, thoughtful and moving poems here that I'm sure I will find myself returning to it, leafing through for something to match my mood.