August 28-September 4, 2011 September 9, 2011: Christine Deavel’s first full-length collection of poems, Woodnote, debuts on this week’s contemporary best seller list at number 26. Deavel, who co-owns the poetry-only bookstore Open Books in Seattle, often writes a spare, Niedecker-esque line that explores the natural world— “It is possible to / believe in the chrysanthemum / To [...] by Harriet Staff

Mary, Mary, where ya goin’? Mary, Mary, why ya buggin’? June 30, 2011: Of Lamb, Matthea Harvey's re-telling of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb," with illustrations by Amy Jean Porter, debuts on the contemporary best seller list this week at #3. Joyce Carol Oates said the book is "a work of such subtle, haunting, spellbinding beauty it is virtually impossible to describe it." So we won't even try, except to [...] by Harriet Staff

The new new thinking June 24, 2011: Fall Higher, the latest collection of poems from Dean Young, rises to number 3 on this week’s contemporary best seller list (the cherry on the top of which is, as ever, Billy Collins). The New York Times (fancy!) called Fall Higher “a thicket of irresistible first lines.” The Los Angeles Times (schmancy!) uncovered the connection between one [...] by Harriet Staff

Spiderwasp or the mascara snake June 18, 2011: A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous. This you know. But did you know that Terry Van Vliet, cousin of the musician/painter Captain Beefheart, is a poet, who according to one Holly Prado, “merges the personal and the mythic with seamless grace.” Well, now you know. Also, Van Vliet’s book, Black Lines on Terracotta, [...] by Harriet Staff

Classic board games and Laura Kasischke June 10, 2011: After a week’s hiatus, Laura Kasischke’s newest collection, Space, In Chains, returns to the contemporary best seller list at number 2, just behind Kay Ryan’s greatest hits, The Best of It. (Note: Does Kasischke’s book sound to anyone else like a lost Milton Bradley classic? Space ‘N’ Chains? No? Then, it’s just us? Fine). [...] by Harriet Staff

Wisconsin week! June 4, 2011: It’s Wisconsin week on the contemporary best seller list, with the Badger state poet Nick Lantz’s two 2010 collections—We Don’t Know We Don’t Know and The Lightning That Strikes the Neighbor’s House—at numbers 2 and 13 (respectively), and Notherners, by Madison’s Seth Abramson, debuting at number 25. Also debuting (though having [...] by Harriet Staff

Life on Mars beats the Here and Now May 27, 2011: Tracy K. Smith's newest book, Life on Mars, jumps 23 spots to number 3 on this week's contemporary best seller list, just behind Billy Collins' Horoscopes for the Dead (number 1), and Kay Ryan's Best of It (number 2). Life on Mars, Smith's third collection, goes deep into David Bowie and dark matter, imagining a sci-fi future where "sex, / having [...] by Harriet Staff

Baron Wormser and the Papago Indians May 20, 2011: Former Maine poet laureate Baron Wormser has his 10th collection, Impenitent Notes, on the contemporary best seller list this week at number 5, having wormed its way (get it?) between Mary Oliver’s Thirst and Swan. Also debuting on the list this week is Native American poet Ofelia Zepeda’s 2008 collection from University of Arizona press, [...] by Harriet Staff

Billy Collins’ Horoscopes for the Dead top seller for April 24-May 1, 2011 May 9, 2011: Michael Dickman’s second collection of poems Flies, just out from Copper Canyon Press, debuts at number 14 on this week’s contemporary best seller list. An auspicious start for the poet whose first book, The End of the West, is Copper Canyon’s best-selling debut ever. Dickman, who had a cameo roll opposite his twin brother in Minority [...] by Harriet Staff

Poetry best sellers, March 13-21, 2011 March 25, 2011: After months in migratory flight away from the contemporary best seller list, Derek Walcott’s White Egrets has returned. It sits atop the list, ahead of four Mary Oliver books (four!). Then rounding out the top ten are two debuts: Anita Skeen’s Never the Whole Story, and Les Murray’s Taller When Prone. The Observer noted on the occasion of [...] by Harriet Staff