My Goodreads review: The 2020 Rhysling Anthology

The 2020 Rhysling Anthology by David C. Kopaska-Merkel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This voting anthology for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association continues to be a well-produced & reliable snapshot of the year's best speculative poetry. As usual, the majority of the poems this year were strongly narrative free verse. Formal verse maintains its presence, however -- there were some notable long-form formal entries this time around, and sonnets are perennial.

After several years of a strong horror showing in this anthology, I noticed mostly science fiction & fantasy this time around (again, with some notable exceptions). The horror poetry present was in the Gothic/weird vein, rather than the more explicit variety. Mythology was a frequent inspiration this year, & fairy tale themes seemed less common than in previous years.

The overall quality was, as usual, very high. Almost any reader of spec poetry, or indeed of spec fiction, should find many items of interest in this one.





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