The 2015 Rhysling Anthology

Rhysling Anthology

by Rich Ristow (Editor), Elizabeth R. McClellan (Contributor)

Nominees for each year's Rhysling Awards are selected by the membership of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. The Rhysling Awards are put to a final vote by the membership of the SFPA selection from all nominated works, presented in the Rhysling Anthology. The anthology allows the membership to easily review and consider all nominated works without the necessity of obtaining the diverse number of publications in which the nominated works first appeared.

Genres: Poetry

158 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Lived in Germany, the UK, Belgium, Bermuda, The Netherlands, West Virginia, North Carolina, and, presently, New Jersey. MFA in Poetry from UNC-Wilmington. Won a 2007 Rhysling Award from the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Into The Cruel Sea (Skullvines, 2008) is my first bit of horror fiction.

Reviews

[Beth Cato]

Includes my poem "Dragon to Centauri." I read the whole anthology and voted for my Rhysling choices. Really, really impressive poems.

[DivaDiane SM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think there's a lot of really good poetry in this year's Rhysling Anthology. There are a few that I wonder why they were nominated, but then, to each her own, right? If you want a good sampling of what Speculative Poetry has to offer, this is it!

[Ann Schwader · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Full disclosure: I have a poem in this anthology. I won’t be discussing it here.]

This year’s Rhysling Anthology (which serves as an awards voting tool for members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association) seems particularly strong. Offering nearly 160 pp. of speculative poetry in short (under 50 lines) and long (50 lines & over) form categories, it represents a good sampling of current styles, themes, and trends in this genre.

I found less emphasis on fairy tales and myths this year, and more concern with various sciences. A fair percentage of the poems read close to mainstream, though favorite SF tropes (starflight, extee colonies, aliens, etc.) are still going strong. Horror and dark fantasy – some of it Lovecraftian – also made a showing. I was interested to notice that several long-form poems this year were formal, either rhymed or in blank verse. There seemed to be an unusual number of poems inspired by other poems or authors, as well.

The anthology itself is a very nicely produced trade paperback, with full-color cover and generally good layout, though I did notice a few broken stanzas. All in all, it makes an excellent “yearbook” for lovers of spec poetry.