“An indispensable addition to the poetics of diaspora, a must read for anyone working to understand what it means to live in the liminal space between the home you flee and the home that harbors.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“I am going on record—Bluff is the best collection of the year, and the best collection Danez Smith has ever written. These are poems you are going to want to share with everyone you know, and everyone you don’t.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Though the poems resonate as a direct response to the most recent attacks on Gaza by Israel, Something About Living makes clear that these attacks are part of a long and deliberate genocide meant to eradicate Palestinians at any cost.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Though the poems resonate as a direct response to the most recent attacks on Gaza by Israel, Something About Living makes clear that these attacks are part of a long and deliberate genocide meant to eradicate Palestinians at any cost.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Song of My Softening, by Omotara James, is a remarkable debut in which the poet, again and again, surrenders to vulnerability and fragility.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Alyan is uniquely skilled at her use of the page and form, as comfortable in strict ghazals as she is with found poetry and experimental forms.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Alt-Nature is a layered and complex window into migrant life, border policies, and the physical embodiment of trauma that people of color continue to experience as a result of settler colonialism.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Bless the Blood: a cancer memoir, by Walela Nehanda, is an unflinching and unashamed window into the author’s diagnosis and treatment for leukemia….” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Portal, winner of the Phoenix Emerging Poet Prize, is a profound treatment of origins perfectly befitting Tracy Fuad’s award-winning debut, About: Blank.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Root Fractures is a collection of nearly incomprehensible depth and innovation. Nguyen navigates prose with efficiency and precision, crafts poems into silhouettes, layers words and phrases that emphasize the frenetic and incoherent thoughts that accompany grief.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“have you heard the one about…? is a short read packed with deep meanings. Every teacher facing similar battles should read it. He may just match your frustration” – Chris L. Butler
“Desire Museum is a brilliant and searing treatment of the human condition, one which encapsulates the full spectrum of desire and how it shapes us.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Desire Museum is a brilliant and searing treatment of the human condition, one which encapsulates the full spectrum of desire and how it shapes us.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“A book that will make you laugh and later send you to the archives, that waxes nostalgic unapologetically, that is unabashed in its celebration of imperfection.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Theophanies, a collection I wish to return to again and again not just because of the important message around motherhood that this work has, but also because of its beautiful language, poignant craft, and revelatory messages.” – Chris L. Butler
Note: This list is organized alphabetically by author last name only, and there are no official numerical rankings in this round-up.
“Together, Turner’s trio of books—The Wild Delight of Wild Things; The Goodbye World Poem; The Dead Peasant’s Handbook—form an unprecedented and distinctly 21st-century approach to elegy.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“A remarkably complex journey, one that refuses comfort and instead destabilizes readers with its structure. This intentionality is evident throughout the book, constantly reminding readers why Bolina continues to collect accolades for his writing.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“A remarkably complex journey, one that refuses comfort and instead destabilizes readers with its structure. This intentionality is evident throughout the book, constantly reminding readers why Bolina continues to collect accolades for his writing.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Willie Lin exudes patience with her poems, allowing the lines to slowly build toward revelation, and yet the collection is imbued with urgency.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Fox Woman Get Out! is a remarkable debut, one that exudes awareness and confidence far beyond what we might expect from a relatively new voice.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Orders of Service is a tremendous debut, and Kinard quickly signals himself as a skilled practitioner of voice and textuality. This is a collection you will want to read and read again.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Transitory should be essential reading for everyone, and it should be taught in every classroom – I don’t say that lightly or hyperbolically. This is not just one of the most important collections of the year, but one of the most important of our lifetime.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Organs of Little Importance is masterful and approachable, personal and universal. Chung is expert at blending sociopolitical critique and vulnerable anecdotes, effectively humanizing the issues at the core of identity formation, especially for women of color living in America.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse is an immense undertaking, and Akbar proves the ideal editor for the anthology. He makes no claims to objectivity or totality, instead imploring readers to treat the book as a collection of those poems that have most impacted and enlightened him.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Lynch defies every expectation for a debut collection, brilliantly challenging what we know of the genre as well as how we approach physical space on the page.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Another Last Call, edited by Kaveh Akbar and Paige Lewis, is at once tender and visceral in its treatment of addiction, sobriety, and the seemingly indomitable will to survive.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“For readers who are often eager to hear what authors think about their own work, Personal Best is an especially exciting collection.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“For the lived experiences of those who call Louisville home, a vital reminder of the power inherent in refusing to relinquish our collective voices despite all efforts to silence us.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Mary Jo Bang proves herself intensely introspective, rooting each poem in the first person as she unpacks everything from the most minor memories to the most obviously life-altering events.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Four in Hand is a unique and challenging collection that, in many ways, uses the structures of the system to highlight the myriad flaws in that system.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Fantasy of Loving the Fantasy is a collection that warps the mind of the reader in the most magnificent of ways as the reader comes to terms with the fantasy of this 21 st century living, this world where men still exert immeasurable control.”-A.R. Arthur
“Nigerian spoken word poet IB reflects on the ultimate question: “What is the Nigerian dream?”.”-Chris L. Butler
“Have You Been Long Enough at the Table is essential reading for anyone concerned with Latinx poetics and the diasporic experience, but it will resonate just as powerfully for those who turn to poetry as a space of introspection and healing.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
Sam Sax follows up their award-winning collection Bury It with Pig, a staggeringly layered collection that meditates on the many iterations of the pig, literally and figuratively. – Ronnie K. Stephens
“I believe that Yuanming’s words speak to the complex psyche that exists within each and every one of us. This complexity of imagination is not time specific and only allows the reader to empathize further as this collection unfolds.”-A.R. Arthur
“The collection, published posthumously, combines fragments, prose, and traditional verse, all of which give the book competing elements of incompleteness and finality.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Flare, Corona is an essential addition to disability poetics, a collection that offers an unashamed and deeply vulnerable window into chronic illness.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Soft Apocalypse is a collection of poetry that challenges the desecration of individualized humanity and the rampant ruination of collective humanity throughout this planet.”-A.R. Arthur
“Sealey highlights the potential violence beneath the interaction with deft efficiency.” – Ronnie K. Stephens
“Snakedoctor by Maurice Manning is a sonorous collection that makes use of varying styles and forms that intrigue the reader and tantalize one’s senses.”-A.R. Arthur
Not Quite an Ocean by Elizabeth M. Castillo is a collection of poetry that speaks for the divine feminine and to the vapid undercurrents that constantly threaten. Castillo makes great use of the ocean as a metaphor both to affirm the notion that undercurrents are always there just
“West: A Translation presents the reader with unknown parallels, lived experiences and harsh realities forced onto many during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Rekdal challenges the acceptance of this oppression whilst criticizing the disposability presented by white American legislation and governmental ambition that can only be said to be dangerously propagated by capitalist demands and pressures.” – A.R. Arthur
“Mceldowney makes the reader contend with the stark reality that we often ignore in favor of living freely without fear of that assured ending, that sudden shift into the unknown. For this alone Mceldowney should be commended.” – A.R. Arthur
Holly Mitchell offers one of the most unassuming debuts in recent memory, quietly yet faithfully interrogating life on a Kentucky horse farm and coming of age in the American South. Mare’s Nest is quiet, but never meek, a tone that mirrors the implied strength of every mare that graces its pages. – Ronnie K. Stephens
The Kingdom of Surfaces is a book that will pull readers back again and again, offering new perspectives and insights each time they revisit a poem. Sally Wen Mao reasserts her place among the most celebrated writers of our time with her expansive and philosophical third collection. I, for one, can’t wait to see what she does next. – Ronnie K. Stephens
“The Third Renunciation by Matthew E. Henry is a collection of sonnets that presents the theological in a way in which the reader is made to ruminate on their own faith and understanding of the divine, the religious and the unknown.” – A.R. Arthur
Celebrated author Oliver de la Paz returns with his sixth full-length collection, The Diaspora Sonnets (Liveright Press, 2023), a brilliant follow-up to the cerebral and touching The Boy in the Labyrinth. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Award-winning poet Taylor Byas offers one of the summer’s best collections with her full-length debut, I Done Clicked My Heel Three Times, from Soft Skull Press. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Still Falling, the fourth collection from Jennifer Grotz, is a brief and impossibly rich exploration of loss, grief, and the unfettered will to endure. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Readers familiar with DeMulder’s work will be at home with Ephemera, which taps into her keen ability to balance trauma with inner peace. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Together, these two artists offer a starkly beautiful celebration of border communities that resists the tropes and mischaracterizations pervading American politics. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Megan Fernandes offers an impressive third collection with I Do Everything I’m Told, a striking and complex exploration of the human condition. – Ronnie K. Stephens
I’m Always So Serious is among the best debuts in American poetry, and Price has established herself as one of the most preeminent voices of her generation. – Ronnie K. Stephens
I Am the Most Dangerous Thing is an accessible and multifaceted debut that never shies away from its mission, to dismantle the systems that characterize queer Black bodies as inherently dangerous. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Good Grief, the Ground is a stupefyingly brilliant collection filled with poems that echo the thunderstorms that crop up like clockwork. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Amy Roa’s Radioactive Wolves is an intriguing collection, full of adventure, ponies, unicorns… and the struggle to survive the nagging hardship of the world. – Michael Imossan
Franklin releases a fine collection, laced with the feminist struggle for freedom from patriarchy, love, loss, death, the finality of things, grief. – Michael Imossan
The debut chapbook of a young, burgeoning talent in the broader literary sphere, Browne utilizes content, form, and structure in natural harmony to baptize us in the arteries of our lands. – Helena Pantsis
Spruijt-Metz deftly explores the complexities of memory, healing, and the divine, delving into the profound connection between the present moment and beyond. – Martins Deep
Minor Poets: Volume 1 is a carefully curated anthology that presents key figures in Black poetics who deserve a place in conversations around American poetry. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Buffalo Girl is one of the most nuanced, complex and unique collections of the year. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Voz is a collection filled with adventures, beaches and forgiveness. – Michael Imossan
This is a collection that far exceeds what readers might expect from a debut, quickly situating Abimbola as a preeminent and philosophical voice in American poetry. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Kyle Vaughn opens us to how desire and hunger can be both holy and unholy. – Michael Imossan
Taylor’s newest is a bold affirmation of denial which is the first stage of grieving, how one refuses to acknowledge the “dead overrunning one’s street”. – Michael Imossan
Olivarez is particularly masterful at writing from a place of vulnerability, exposing his flaws without ever leaning into self-deprecation. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Etlinger’s The Weather Gods lives in the in-between—somewhere in the middle of ghosts and spirit, love and loss, memories and moments. – Michael Imossan
Katie Farris balances grace and strength perfectly, offering poems that will linger with readers for days at a time. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Thomas gives readers the rare occasion to listen to, not judge or direct, the kid that lives in all of us. – KB Brookins
Trace Evidence is intensely complex and immediate, layered and poignant, positioned perfectly as a deeply personal and yet deeply relatable collection. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Matthew Guenette navigates through past and present tragedies in a way that envisages the future. – Michael Imossan
Junious Ward is masterful with his language, yes, but he also manages to present a collection in which every poem offers something structurally and linguistically unique. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Margaret Wack’s dexterity is sprawled across the pages of her debut collection which is vivid, intense and heartwarming. – Ejiro Edward
This collection impeccably displays Garcia’s particular style and his skillful execution of it through his mastery of words. – Bella Ciraco
A searing collection that encapsulates the full spectrum of the human experience….It is one of the best chapbook length collections in American letters. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Browne has repeatedly asserted herself as one of the most preeminent voices in America, and her work has always been unflinching and vulnerable. – Ronnie K. Stephens
The reader is transported into the heart of myth by Jessica’s uncanny ability to capture its essence, with such depth that it is both haunting and indelible. – Martins Deep
Add Schneberg to the list of authors you turn to, in your own crises and in the crises of others. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Jason treats all subject matter with such delicateness that it proves almost impossible for language to account for them. – Michael Imossan
One finds themselves trying to determine if they’re more drawn to the art illustrations or the rhythmic flow but one thing is sure, hope is a silhouette is brilliant. – Ejiro Edward
There is no way one can literally navigate the waters of reminiscence, loss and nostalgia the way Jenny Sadre-Orafai does it in her collection Dear Outsiders. I say literally because the poet exhibits the trait of a thalassophile—the inescapable need to be and live by the sea. In the collection,
Review by Ejiro Edward “I’ve stopped taking pictures of my surviving children. I take pictures of the snow, and what the snow covers”. from Family therapy The author of Church Ladies, Renee Emerson has released yet another engrossing masterpiece to the world. In the poetry collection of The Commonplace
This month, I am returning to one of the most pervasive experiences my students share, one that occupies the better part of their bad days. I mean, of course, break ups. Educators are tasked, more and more, with making content relevant to our students. Though I often use poetry as
I hold my breath to tempt the light. This portrait should engage the interest of some decorous and cultivated gent accustomed to the ways of wooing. All my life I’ve sent so many men so many signals, just to be upstaged… From “7” Patricia Smith reasserts herself as one
Armed with surrealism, Stoddard breaks free from the constraints of reality in order to tap into the realm of the irrational and dreamlike. – Martins Deep
Astronauts claim it takes leaving earth to know earth, how alone and woven we are, o zone, how wondrously thin the layer of glow defending us from obliteration. From “March in the Garden of Ghosts” Cynthia Dewi Oka draws on newly classified documents around the 1965 genocide
Gabrielle Bates is one part rock star, one part bard, offering a debut that perfectly balances an unflinching, badass attitude with the practiced precision of an experienced student of poetics. – Ronnie K. Stephens
Told from a standpoint of bed rest, Elizabeth Metzger analyzes how the body pays the price of bearing something as fragile as another self twice as susceptible to vulnerability. – Martins Deep
Join Chris in conversation with author of Stereo(types), Jonah Mixon-Webster, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!
Baird truly pours her heart onto each page, and it can be felt beating in every single word. – Isabella Ciraco
From From offers an opportunity to consider what it means to be an American, to reach inside oneself to critically examine the ways in which western ideology has impacted colonization and racial identity. – Catie L. Young
Su Cho’s The Symmetry of Fish is a summon into experience, adventure, loss, sadness, pain and enlightenment. – Michael Imossan
Siaara Freeman shrieks and wails, but she also knows when to pull back, when to whisper and when to let the blank space reverberate like the ghost of a storm – Ronnie K. Stephens
Poetry is generative and scientifically proven to promote healing, not just cognitively and emotionally, but also physically. – Ronnie K. Stephens
As is typical of confessionalism, the poet flings all caution in the face of the bull. They are the red flag, the matador, and the dust that refuses to settle. – Martins Deep
Join Chris in conversation with Nat Raum, Editor of Fifth Wheel Press, about passions, process, pitfalls, and Poetry!
In A Home To Crouch In, Blanton introduces readers to the life of an urban recluse speaker who finds solace in a bottle of cheap liquor and a poetry book in his rundown apartment. – Caleb Jones
It’s so embarrassing
How we used to be friends
To now I don’t care if it ends
Past making amends
– Reggie Johnson
The emotional language and distinct structure in Kevin Powell’s collection will leave you with a new perspective on love, injustice, and devotion to your people that will make your sorrows soothed and your soul uplifted. – Isabella Ciraco
