Poet with Baltimore roots is among America’s best

Published December 11, 2008 5:00am ET



“It isn’t just Johnny she’s mourning,
but the slow stretch of Sundays lost pouring
milk for us children, coffee for them,
and at game time, National Premium.”
— Moira Egan, “An Elegy for Johnny Unitas,” for her mother, Betty

Energizing the national poetry scene with inventive and erotic work, Baltimore poet Moira Egan, 46, has emerged as a powerful new voice in American poetry.
A double sonnet entitled “Millay Goes Down” recently appeared in the “The Best American Poetry 2008” collection, a distinguished honor for any poet.

“Egan can retain the sonnet structure and adapt it to the speech and behavior of our own day,” said the collection’s editor, David Lehman. “That is impressive, not least because her writing communicates pleasure to even the untutored reader.”

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