David Lehman

David Lehman – Life, Poetry & Influence

Explore the life and literary legacy of David Lehman (born 1948) — American poet, critic, editor of The Best American Poetry, and a voice shaping contemporary letters. Discover his biography, major works, style, and key quotes.

Introduction

David Lehman, born June 11, 1948, is a prolific American poet, critic, editor, and teacher whose influence extends beyond his own verse. He is perhaps best known as the founder and long-time series editor of the annual anthology The Best American Poetry, a landmark in U.S. contemporary poetry. More than simply a curator, he is a creative force in his own right, publishing a steady stream of poetry collections, essays, and critical works. His career bridges poet, anthologist, cultural commentator, and public intellectual.

Early Life and Family Background

David Lehman was born in New York City in 1948. Inwood neighborhood, in a family of European Jewish refugees. His upbringing, in the shadow of memory, diaspora, and Jewish identity, often surfaces in his writing as a background presence.

He attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Columbia College (BA), later doing graduate work and earning a PhD in English from Columbia University. Kellett Fellowship to study at the University of Cambridge (Clare College) for two years. Lionel Trilling.

Academic & Early Career

After finishing his doctoral work, Lehman briefly taught at Hamilton College (as assistant professor of English) and earlier held a teaching post at Brooklyn College, where he shared an office with fellow poet John Ashbery.

However, Lehman soon pivoted toward freelance writing, criticism, and public engagement. For about fifteen years, he was a journalist and contributor to major outlets including Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. His ability to bridge scholarly and journalistic modes positioned him uniquely among poets.

The Best American Poetry & orial Influence

One of Lehman’s most enduring contributions is The Best American Poetry series, which he launched in 1988. series editor, with a different guest editor selected each year to shape that volume.

Beyond that, Lehman’s editorial work includes:

• The Oxford Book of American Poetry (2006)

• The Best American Erotic Poems (2008)

• Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present

• He previously was general editor of the Poets on Poetry series at University of Michigan Press (1994–2006).

Through these roles, Lehman has had a shaping hand in how contemporary poetry is framed, disseminated, and critiqued.

Major Works: Poetry, Criticism & Memoir

Poetry Collections

Lehman has published many volumes of poetry over the decades. Some key titles include:

• An Alternative to Speech (1986)

• Operation Memory (1990)

• The Daily Mirror: A Journal in Poetry (2000) — arising from a project writing a poem every day for five years

• The Evening Sun (2002)

• When a Woman Loves a Man (2005)

• Yeshiva Boys (2009)

• New and Selected Poems (2013)

• Poems in the Manner Of (2017)

• Playlist (2019)

• The Morning Line (2021)

Lehman’s poetry is varied in form and voice; he often experiments with different styles while retaining a recognizably personal voice.

Nonfiction, Criticism & Memoir

• The Last Avant-Garde: The Making of the New York School of Poets (1998) — a critical history of key mid-century poets

• The Big Question (1995), The Line Forms Here (1992), and Signs of the Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man (1991) — works of criticism and intellectual inquiry into literary theory.

• The Perfect Murder: A Study in Detection (1989) — a foray into the detective and crime genre, later revised.

• A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs (2009) — combining cultural criticism, memoir, and musical history; this book won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award.

• One Hundred Autobiographies: A Memoir (2019) — a more explicitly autobiographical work of essays and reflection.

• The State of the Art: A Chronicle of American Poetry, 1988–2014 (2015) — Lehman reflects on trends, shifts, and trajectories in contemporary poetry.

• The Mysterious Romance of Murder: Crime, Detection, and the Spirit of Noir (2022) — exploring crime fiction and its cultural resonances.

Teaching, Influence & Public Work

Lehman has long been involved in teaching and public poetry life. He was on the core faculty of the graduate writing program at The New School (New York City), and served as its Poetry Coordinator until 2018.

He also co-directed (with Star Black) the “Monday Night Poetry” reading series at the KGB Bar in NYC, which became a notable forum for contemporary poetry and community engagement.

In recent years, he initiated and moderates a public poetry prompt/contest called “Next Line, Please” (via The American Scholar) which invites poets and readers to collectively generate and respond to poetic prompts.

Lehman splits his time between New York City and Ithaca, New York.

Style, Themes & Poetic Approach

David Lehman’s poetic voice is notable for its combination of conversational clarity, emotional resonance, formal experimentation, and intertextual awareness. Some recurring features include:

• Variety of forms: Lehman does not stick to one mold; his experiments include sonnets, prose poems, constrained forms, acrostics, and freer modes.

• Memory and history: Given his family background and intellectual formation, themes of memory, Jewish identity, diaspora, and temporal layering appear across his work.

• Everyday moment & lyric insight: He often finds depth in quotidian scenes or interior reflections, using lyric compression and tonal shifts to expand meaning.

• Literary awareness & dialogue: Lehman’s poems often converse with poetic tradition, allusion, and engagement with other voices—both canonical and marginalized.

Notable Quotes & Reflections

• On poetic style and discipline, Lehman has said:

  “I write in a lot of different styles and forms … the poems all sound like me in the end, so why not make them as different from one another as possible in outward appearance?”

• About The Daily Mirror (his “poem a day” work), Yusef Komunyakaa (fellow poet) called it “a sped-up meditation on the elemental stuff that we’re made of… in this honed matrix of seeing, what's commonplace becomes the focus of extraordinary glimpses.”

• On Lehman’s editorial vision for Best American Poetry, he has commented:

  “The 75 poems are of course the center of the book, but we want also to have a foreword by me … and an essay in which the guest editor propounds his or her criteria.”

Legacy & Impact

David Lehman’s influence in American letters is multifold:

1. Bridge between poet and public: Through The Best American Poetry, he has helped bring contemporary poetry to wider audiences and shaped poetic taste.

2. Curatorial imagination: As an anthologist and editor, he frames literary moments, sets standards, and opens space for emerging voices.

3. Sustained creative output: Unlike many editors, he never stopped writing — his poetry and prose continue to evolve.

4. Community and pedagogy: His public poetry initiatives (readings, contests), teaching, and interactions help sustain poetic community and discourse.

5. Model of plural voice: His willingness to vary form, mode, and register suggests a poetry that embraces multiplicity rather than adhering to a rigid signature.

Conclusion

David Lehman is more than a poet: he is a cultural weaver, a poetic interlocutor, and a steady voice in America’s literary conversation. His work illustrates that a poet can serve both as creator and critic, bridging inward craft and outward engagement. Through his verse, his editorial stewardship, and his public initiatives, Lehman has helped shape how poetry is read, understood, and shared in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.