Anthology Celebrates 40 Years of Pitt Poetry Series

The University of Pittsburgh Press is celebrating 40 years of publishing the Pitt Poetry Series with the release of American Poetry Now: Pitt Poetry Series Anthology.

Compiled by series editor Ed Ochester, American Poetry Now includes the work of 48 authors from diverse backgrounds, without allegiance to any particular school or style. The volume also includes an introduction by Ochester, author biographies, photos, and a suggested list for further reading.

Since its inception in 1967, the Pitt Poetry Series has featured the work of some of America’s finest contemporary poets, including Poet Laureate Billy Collins, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner Ted Kooser, Denise Duhamel, Bob Hicok, and Pitt faculty members Toi Derricotte and Lynn Emanuel, among others.

Ochester, who has been editor of the series since 1978, told Poets & Writers, “I think one of the things that makes the Pitt Poetry Series different from just about every trade house now—and probably a number of university presses—is that we have open submissions. We do read everything that comes in over the transom.”

Former director of Pitt’s creative writing program, Ochester is a professor emeritus of English here. He is the author of more than 14 volumes of poetry and is founding editor of the literary magazine 5 A.M.