National Book Foundation Names Poetry Finalists

The National Book Foundation on Tuesday released its longlist of poetry nominees for the 2014 National Book Awards.

Five finalists will be announced on Oct. 15, and the winners will be recognized at an awards gala on Nov. 19 that will be hosted by Daniel Handler, a k a Lemony Snicket.
The foundation will announce the nonfiction and fiction nominees on Wednesday and Thursday.

The poetry nominees are:

Louise Glück, ‘Faithful and Virtuous Night,’ Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This new collection from Ms. Glück, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and a three-time National Book Award finalist, tackles the subjects of aging and creativity.

Edward Hirsch, ‘Gabriel: A Poem,’ Alfred A. Knopf

In this volume of poetry, Mr. Hirsch, an award-winning poet, writes about the loss of his son, Gabriel, who died at 22. The New Yorker called it “a masterpiece of sorrow.”

Fanny Howe, ‘Second Childhood,’ Graywolf Press

Ms. Howe has published more than 20 books of poetry and prose. Her latest collection “channels childlike marvel,” a reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote.

Maureen N. McLane, ‘This Blue,’ Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Ms. McLane’s third collection includes poems about nature and travel, and poems with cheeky titles like “They Were Not Kidding in the Fourteenth Century” and “Quiet Car.”

Linda Bierds, ‘Roget’s Illusion,’ G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Ms. Bierds’s verses have been praised by W.S. Merwin for their “real power and animal presence.”

Brian Blanchfield, ‘A Several World,’ Nightboat Books

This collection, which takes its title from a 17th-century poem by Robert Herrick, deals with questions about subjectivity and individuality versus the collective.

Fred Moten, ‘The Feel Trio,’ Letter Machine Editions

Mr. Moten’s verse is packed with slang and contemporary language as well as jazz references.

Claudia Rankine, ‘Citizen: An American Lyric,’ Graywolf Press

In “Citizen,” which has been described as “a provocative mediation on race,” Ms. Rankine mixes current events and pop culture references with personal narratives.

Spencer Reece, ‘The Road to Emmaus,’ Farrar, Straus and Giroux

A sequence of narrative poems about an Episcopal priest who works as a chaplain at a hospital and prison and struggles with loneliness. Mr. Reece, an Episcopal priest, is working on a prose book about his decision to enter the priesthood late in life.

Mark Strand, ‘Collected Poems,’ Alfred A. Knopf

A half-century of work by Mr. Strand, a Pulitzer Prize winner and former United States Poet Laureate.