The Best British Poetry 2011 presents the finest and most engaging poems found in British-based literary magazines and webzines over the past year. The material gathered represents the rich variety of current UK poetry, including lyric, formal and experimental poetry. Each poem is accompanied by a note by the poet themselves, explaining the inspiration for the poem and why they decided to write the poem in that form. The format of the book will be familiar to those who have seen similar annual selections made in other countries such as Ireland, Australia and especially the US, where the equivalent annual book is a popular yet controversial landmark in each year's literary calendar. At a time when print journals still retain their significance and popularity and when new sites are flourishing on the web, this book offers a snapshot of current poetry practices in the country by offering a diverse selection of excellent poems.

Contributions by: Gillian Allnutt, Mike Bannister, Chris Beckett, Liz Berry, Nina Boyd, Judy Brown, Mark Burnhope, Kayo Chingonyi, Jane Commane, Fred D’Aguiar, Emma Danes, Amy De’Ath, Isobel Dixon, Sasha Dugdale, Ian Duhig, Josh Ekroy, Laura Elliott, Carrie Etter, Dai George, Giles Goodland, Matthew Gregory, Philip Gross, Kelly Grovier, Aiko Harman, Emily Hasler, Oli Hazzard, W. N. Herbert, Alexander Hutchison, Sarah Jackson, Chris James, Kate Kilalea, Nick Laird, Pippa Little, Kona Macphee, Lorraine Mariner, Sophie Mayer, Chris McCabe, Ted McCarthy, John McCullough, Patrick McGuinness, Gordon Meade, Kate Miller, Esther Morgan, Catherine Ormell, Richard Osmond, Ruth Padel, Emma Page, Abigail Parry, Amy Joanna Philip, Heather Phillipson, Kate Potts, Vidyan Ravinthiran, Deryn Rees-Jones, Sam Riviere, Colette Sensier, Penelope Shuttle, Jon Stone, Matthew Sweeney, George Szirtes, Lizzi Thistlethwayte, Eoghan Walls, Chrissy Williams, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch, Michael Zand