suggest a contemporary poet

[tony1]

Hey all! Can any one suggest their favorite contemporary poet. I love to read Kooser, and Billy Collins, but can anyone turn me on to some of their favs. Thanks

[Dichroic]

How contemporary do you want?
Mary Oliver (famous). Peg Duthie (not, but enough of her stuff is published online that you can find a sampling.) Joanne Merriam (ditto)

[tony1]

I actually have one of Mary Oliver books.ually She's great! I'm just looking for someone who has just published their first book, and it's all the rave. I don't subscribe to any lit. or poetry reviews, so I'm kind of depending on word of mouth.

[Dichroic]

The other two poets I mentioned are pretty easy to find via Google. Or if you want a book, there's always the one our own Haskins just put out :)

[brokenfingers]

If you want really good contemporary poetry, go here (http://poisonpen.net/poetry/).

[TerzaRima]

Mary Oliver. Donald Justice is good too.

[qwerty]

Philip Larkin - who got away with "They f**k you up, your mum and dad"

[JRH]

You might try Richard Wakefield, winner of the 2007 Richard Wilbur Award for "East of Early Winter" who has a few poems posted at http://www.thehypertexts.com/Richard_Wakefield_Poet_Poetry_Picture_Bio.htm or Thomas Vaughan Jones who has published one volume "A Reflection Of Mood Swings" and who has much of his Poetry posted at: http://www.shadowpoetry.com/members/hyperbolehaven/350/thomasvaughan.html

Jim Hoye, (JRH)

[Autodidact]

I like Wendy Cope who is contemporary but not really modern. One of my favorites is "The Orange," which I think is just about perfect. Here it is:

The Orange

By Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all my jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.

[scarletpeaches]

Ah! You stole my thunder - I was going to say Wendy Cope.

[Dichroic]

Autodidact: thanks for sharing that. I'd never heard of Wendy Cope, and I love it.