Sara Peters’ "1996" (House of Anansi) is a debut so fully realized it is hard to believe that it is the poet’s first. Peters, a rising star in Canadian poetry, establishes a voice that is distinctly her own. With freshness and maturity, 1996 carries the reader through subjects that are, in Robert Pinsky’s words, “deeper than mere darkness.”

It is refreshing to read poetry that doesn't have to bullshit about what it is. Hilbert can write a sonnet that sounds so natural - and so casually American - that heard aloud, one might not even recognize it for what it is. Or rather, one would recognize it for exactly what it is: great poetry.