THOUGHTS ON APPEARING IN BEST AMERICAN POETRY

 Thoughts on Appearing in BEST AMERICAN POETRY

By Jose Padua

 

I’m never wholly certain about these things until I come across visual evidence, so here I am, included in the list of poets on the back cover of the Best American Poets 2025. I must first thank Terence Winch for including me therein; Anselm Berrigan for publishing the selected poem (“Godzilla Meets the Beast”) as well as several others in the Brooklyn Rail; and Eileen Tabios, who included me in an online Filipino-American History Month reading for the Brooklyn Rail and thus brought my work to Anselm’s attention.

 Now, I understand there have been various controversies over the years regarding Best American Poets—from the belief that poets published therein are, more often than not, friends of the guest editor, to the publishing of a poem written by a white poet who used the pseudonym Yi-Fen Chou, apparently in order to demonstrate how poets of color had an advantage in the poetry world.

 

Lately, there has been some discussion of whether a poet’s stance on Palestine should be a litmus test on whether a poet should be honored and respected or else shunned from the poetry community. My stance is that a people living under an Apartheid regime that receives massive amounts of support from the United States and who have been subject to removal from their homes, been the target of daily attacks for the last seventy-seven years, and have been victim to well-funded campaigns to dehumanize them are not the oppressor here. Nevertheless, although I am steadfast in my opinions regarding the atrocities Israel has inflicted on the people of Palestine all these years, I am by no means certain of the best way, as a writer, to promote this outlook.

 

From looking at the list of poets who appear in Best American Poets 2025, I do see that I will be in the company of poets who share my point of view, such as Mosab Abu Toha, who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary with his coverage of the genocide for The New Yorker. On the other hand, it does appear likely that there will also be work from poets whose stance on Gaza may differ sharply from mine, which had me asking, initially, whether this was the sort of company I wished to keep. 

 

But so be it, I am in this and I continue to stand by my views and I hope the presence of my work in the anthology exerts some level of influence. This may not be a totally comfortable place for me to be, but then, when have I ever been all that comfortable? Being neurodivergent on the autism spectrum—a realization that came to me late in life—comfort is neither prerequisite for my daily existence nor for writing poetry. Indeed, I do believe my discomforts, along with the many ways I diverge from those around me, is what makes writing an essential part of my life (i.e., piss off, RFK Jr.)

 

As such, I am indeed happy to be included in the latest Best American Poetry. I am also happy to be among poets whose work I have admired for a long time (Bob Hicok, Sharon Olds, David Trinidad. etc), a poet whose notice helped make my work more widely known (Billy Collins, who chose me for the 2019 Miller Williams Prize), as well as poets with whom I have crossed paths over the decades at readings and other events (Denise Duhamel, Chris Mason, Grace Cavalieri).

 

Rest in Power, Sly Stone, Brian Wilson, and whoever else has helped, in their own, sometimes imperfect ways bring a certain slant of the light necessary for making our way out of regimes and other systems of oppression.

 

 

*****

 

Jose Padua’s first book, A Short History of Monsters, was chosen by Billy Collins as the winner of the 2019 Miller Williams Poetry Prize and is out from the University of Arkansas Press. His poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in many publications, including the 2025 edition of Best American Poetry. He has read his work at Lollapalooza, CBGBs, the Knitting Factory, the Public Theater, the Living Theater, the Nuyorican Poets' Café, the St. Mark's Poetry Project, the Split This Rock festival, and many other venues. He lives with his wife, the poet Heather L. Davis, and children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

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Editor's Note: Jose Padua appears in the last volume of long-running The Best American Poetry series which ended on Sept. 30, 2025. The series' first annual had appeared in 1988.