The thirteen finalists of the Indie Booksellers’ Choice Awards happily include two volumes of poetry.

The first is a book, I have to confess, I had never heard of – David K. Wheeler’s Contingency Plans. But, despite being ignorant of it, I am excited by it, not in the least  because it’s a first book of poetry and it’s good to see how independent booksellers are pushing and supporting collections by new poets.

The second is that wonderfully erudite and experimental assemblage, Anne Carson’s Nox. If you read or care about contemporary poetry and don’t know who Anne Carson, I hardly know what to say. Look her up. And read her. For heaven’s sake, read her. She’s fantastic.