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Discover verse with style and substance, unsettling proclamations, and contained majesty in the best poetry collections of 2023.
PREMIUM
Girls from the County
This audiobook may be short, but it is seriously spooky. Recommended for those who love gothic poetry or true crime or listeners wanting to get in the Halloween spirit.
PREMIUM
Organs of Little Importance
An engrossing blend of the contemporary and classical, laced with irony, humor, and a deep sense of the now.
Complex, linguistically rich, and unsparing in its analysis of both the current national psyche as well as the poet’s own, Pardlo’s poetry dares to ask: “What if we didn’t define ourselves according to our ability to know ourselves, but by our capacity to relate to others?”
Miller is able to go inside her subjects and draw readers with her. That experience makes this collection one for all libraries.
Hayes successfully provides a multidimensional work that serves as an outline of American poetry history, a reflection on a poet’s life, and a thoughtful discussion guide for groups or classes.
PREMIUM
School of Instructions: A Poem
For patient, attentive readers, Hutchinson delivers a spoil of linguistic, philosophical, and spiritual riches.
PREMIUM
Up Late: Poems
While the poems in the last third of the book seem a shade lighter than those preceding them, this collection offers readers a satisfyingly rich palette of imagery and insight.
McCrae’s innovative stylistics and associative leaps take some getting used to, but his poetry echoes his hope that “what once seemed strange to you/ Becomes your heart.”
The poetics of spontaneity is not unusual, but McLane brings to it a honed sensibility and voice entirely her own.
This powerful and accessible collection of poetry, amplified by Browne’s skilled narration, is ideal for both established fans of and newcomers to contemporary poetry, plus those who like Jasmine Mans and Jacqueline Woodson.
Sometimes it can feel like a tale of two works, the junction not quite seamless, with some of the poetry here feeling a bit more academic and opaque next to the thrilling prose. But on the whole, this is another stunningly audacious work from Lerner that surveys life through the lens of art and vice versa, intimate and universal, challenging but deeply rewarding.
Quietly devastating and exquisitely wrought, these poems are among the very finest of Hayes’s career.
PREMIUM
I Love Information: Poems
Stringing together random-declarative sentences without periods, some seemingly related and others not, does not make for good poetry. Not recommended.
Occasionally, some one-word titles don’t do justice to the poems, and in a few the rhyming seems overdone, but this poet writes what is vital and necessary. These poems are raw, emotional, and fierce in their rush to get words out into the world. Highly recommended.
PREMIUM
Ghost Apples: Poems
Appropriate for followers of Coles’s work and especially readers connected with nature.
There’s an artfulness of intention behind this work, but placing these anagrammed lines beside those of Shakespeare doesn’t enhance it. Ketner may have discovered an ingenious technique, but unfortunately their method does not result in ingenious poetry.
PREMIUM
Mare’s Nest
Ultimately, Mitchell’s language is reminiscent of Dylan Thomas’s “Fern Hill” and draws from a similar source: life bursting forth on the farm beside an undercurrent of death. As Thomas’s famed line says, “Time held me green and dying/ Though I sang in my chains like the sea.”
Deeply moving and personal while also celebrating Black Latina history and informing readers urgently needing to be educated, Marte’s book is a wonderful addition to any collection.
PREMIUM
The Diaspora Sonnets
Exciting in its combination of traditional form and accessibility, this collection offers a compassionate and poignant reflection on family in diaspora. Highly recommended.
PREMIUM
Console: Poems
A dreamy, vivid, linguistically alive collection that will reward the careful reader.
PREMIUM
Pig: Poems
Some readers unfamiliar with Sax’s work may flinch at its unabashed sexuality, but the poet’s sharp humor, imaginative breadth, and risky candor are expertly tuned to the varieties of human experience.
Seemingly tailor-made for audio, this powerful book is a must-purchase. Olivarez’s invitation to share moments of his history, culture, love, and joy is wholly affecting.
With themes ranging from nature and climate change to love and war, these 18 resonant collections from debut and established poets make strong suggestions for reading during National Poetry Month.
PREMIUM
West: A Translation
A remarkable collection offering history not typically told in textbooks; an accompanying website (westtrain.org) with video poems and historical images adds context.
PREMIUM
Flickering
It’s easy to get lost in Rogers’s lush language, but there are larger issues here that will make the book appealing not just to poetry readers but to anyone concerned with the environment.
A fine exploration of nature and self in crisis; those familiar with Eilbert’s work will not be disappointed, while new readers will be eager to explore her further.
PREMIUM
Rose Quartz: Poems
A beautifully rendered sense of someone blown to bits by social and cultural injustices and still in the remaking.
PREMIUM
A Fire in the Hills
An accessible collection from a poet who continues to probe the past, present, and interconnectedness of being.
While this collection will resonate most deeply with parents, its wisdom, humanity, and sheer eloquence speak to a time and condition all readers will recognize.
PREMIUM
Your Kingdom
An engaging collection, perhaps more contemplative than Sikelianos’s previous work, for nature lovers and beyond.
Shanahan’s new work meets anguish and pain directly and ultimately proposes a tender and expansive possibility: “If you are on this earth/ You are of this earth.” Emotionally vulnerable and insightful; a work in which all readers likely will find something of themselves.
PREMIUM
Skeletons
In a book coursing with energy, Landau remains in control. “This is my fifth book of poems. I had my way with each of them.” Indeed she has! A good addition to most collections.
PREMIUM
Was It for This: Poems
Perhaps not as absorbing as her first work, though this may depend on the reader; still, Sullivan remains an original and observant writer.
PREMIUM
Icelight
For poems probing deep ontological and existential concerns, these are remarkably free of lecture or cant. Sophisticated readers will grab especially, but this work is accessible to all.
Thrillingly bold, this collection is at once unique in approach, mischievous in its navigation of ideas, and lush yet controlled in its use of language, rupturing the division between the domestic and the primal to both delicate and brutal ends.
Occasionally, a phrase brushes improbability (“My horse and my notebook think// what I am thinking/ through an orgy of cadence”), but these poems breathe with life; even in a collection this large, the reader stays involved. “On the road,/ cars rarify, whisk by trees that explode/ in redbud, apple blossom, presage fruit”: a poetic journey not to be missed.
PREMIUM
Still Falling: Poems
Coming from deep inside, these poems work by free association, often alluding to falling rain, snow, and even sunlight pouring onto a surface, all of which add a spiritual resonance to these hypnotic and meditative poems.
PREMIUM
Door
Challenging reading for those who don’t know her work, but a welcome volume for those who do.
Looking to celebrate World Poetry Day, National Poetry Month in April, or hoping to update your poetry collection? Take a look at this display shelf.
Listeners will experience and learn something different with every visit to this stunning collection. A necessary purchase for newcomers and seasoned poetry lovers alike. Suggest to fans of William Sieghart’s The Poetry Remedy.
This luminous collection from a treasured writer is a must-listen and a necessary addition to every poetry collection.
Youn does an extraordinary job of blending historical themes with haunting modern-day experiences to clarify sense of self. Readers will be captivated.
Readers who enjoy W.S. Merwin, Mary Oliver, and Jane Kenyon will feel quite at home with Zagajewski’s poems; like those writers, he is never obscure or tentative but always luminous and alive. Essential for academic libraries and a worthy purchase for contemporary poetry collections in public libraries.
Bernard has a sharp, critical eye and an ability to paint a scene quickly while also coloring it with social resonance. Similar word choices occasionally get repeated from poem to poem, but this collection is a marvel, gifting the reader with new subjects, unique perspectives, and an exuberant musicality that nearly leaps across the page. Highly recommended.
A powerful document of social injustice, BISACed as social science but of crucial interest for arts and poetry collections; pricey but worth it for many libraries.
With his intimate tone, Ó Tuama takes poetry out of the classroom and puts it back into the hands of the reader. He thereby makes the world a better place. Recommended for poetry collections everywhere.
Harjo is a national treasure, perhaps even a national resource, and this important book is an essential addition to contemporary poetry collections everywhere.
It’s “time to write on the face of the earth/ the value and meaning of every name,” Okri writes. Globally engaged, accessible, and relevant.
PREMIUM
Event Horizon
Many readers will appreciate the way Marvin’s bang-on honesty reframes the ordinary; an enlightening, accessible tome.
Highly recommended for readers interested in the details behind the creation of this literary landmark and the times in which it was composed.
PREMIUM
Content Warning: Everything
Though lacking the lushness of Emezi’s best fiction, these poems urgently communicate a relatable search for identity and safety and will resonate with a wide range of readers wanting to undertake that search, too. Especially important in presenting another dimension of this gifted writer.
PREMIUM
Now Do You Know Where You Are
Even as it lofts us on high to see the warp and weft of the universe and our own troubled place therein, this collection turns out to be a strangely reassuring read. A satisfying work from an accomplished poet.
PREMIUM
Harbinger: Poems
Though a few are not fully realized, in general these poems balance the dire and dystopian with the joyful and caring, inviting the reader to stay onboard for each new voyage. A collection that should not be missed.
PREMIUM
Relinquenda: Poems
Beautiful in form and content, Regalado’s lyrical work will appeal broadly to readers interested in emotional connection.
Readers will not find a direct narrative here, as the verses don’t always flow seamlessly from one section to the other, but they can nonetheless bask in a remarkable poetic experience.
PREMIUM
Draw Me After: Poems
Coming from Cole’s fascination with word play and paradox, the best of these poems are laced with alliteration and rhyme, shape-shifting as they focus on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the creative process. For poetry readers who like pondering deep questions.
PREMIUM
Ask the Brindled: Poems
Aiming high and occasionally staggering under the weight of its linguistic and formal experimentation, this vivid work should be read as an advance on aesthetics and the excavation of colonialism.
An elegy for Xie’s grandmother points out, “Nowhere goes clean through the static of decades without hitting a nerve,” and Xie hits nerves throughout in stunning and evocative language. Highly recommended.
PREMIUM
In a Few Minutes Before Later
Occasionally these poems feel full to overflowing, but Hillman’s majestic new work belongs in most poetry collections.
PREMIUM
The Hurting Kind
An accomplished volume highly recommended for both neophytes and poetry lovers.
PREMIUM
Belly to the Brutal
Givhan’s strong, vibrant writing can also be dense and layering, sometimes slowing up an understanding of her meaning, but the result is great for the word-hungry and readers interested in the female experience.
Lit up with sudden lyricism (“Her body releasing mist from the hurricane inside her”), Dower’s sharply observed quotidian detail will draw in even casual readers of poetry.
PREMIUM
Bad Poetry, Vol. 1: Tumbleweed
Recommended for those who want a straightforward, heartfelt read in tumultuous times, including YAs looking for resonance and anyone appreciating the insouciance of Rodriguez’s title.
For science readers who love poetry, poetry readers who love science, and feminists and students of all ages. [For more on this collection, see “Curating Creativity: Jessy Randall Finds Inspiration in the Archives | Peer to Peer Review.”]
PREMIUM
Your Face My Flag
In a collection that’s vividly detailed and layered, Gewirtz proves to be a wonderful storyteller, covering a wide range of subjects and frequently addressing social justice issues. Recommended for all collections.
A beautiful and accessible meditation on language and self, the very core of poetry, that will appeal to a wide range of readers.
Though Bennett’s poems seem effortless in their lyric grace (“the vanishing/ world of living things no louder than the sound/ of insects whimpering in their dust-sized sorrows”) and organic progressions, they are better described as effortful, given memorable presence by their intimacy, mindful craft, and visionary pursuit. Expect this work to appear on many “best poetry” lists for 2022.
PREMIUM
The End of Michelangelo
A timeless oasis of quietude in our contemporary maelstrom of uncertainty and apprehension, Gerber’s poetry vividly reminds us that while “the scale of pleasure ascends into terror…/ the pleasure is in being alive.”
PREMIUM
Flutter, Kick
Ross’s lovely, provocative work will appeal to a wide range of readers, whether for the way she finds larger issues within the personal or her singular use of language.
It’s not often that fat women feel such thorough representation of themselves not only in poetry but in any media and not only in the beautiful moments but in the sorrowful ones, ranging throughout life. James does a brilliant job of portraying this and all her themes brilliantly; highly recommended.
PREMIUM
Time Is a Mother
This is a timely collection of poetry and will make a great addition to any library collection.
Jones’s most free-flowing work yet, a centripetal collection where rage and pain and weariness swirl and coalesce with stunning emotional and conceptual clarity, yet so intimate it feels bled from the author’s very veins.
PREMIUM
In the Bowl of My Eye
The award-winning Garebian (including honors from the Scarborough Arts Council and the Ontario Poetry Society) offers a distinctive perspective on modern life that may well prove of interest to a number of readers.
PREMIUM
Bluest Nude: Poems
The collection’s organizing principle can feel a bit injudicious at times, with some poems easily bleeding into the next while others feel like slamming into a wall, but the potency of Codjoe’s language and keenness of her thematic renderings never fails to enthrall. Fiercely intelligent and both emotionally and formally rich.
PREMIUM
Normal Distance
Ultimately, Gabbert writes her memoir-like poems around quotidian events such as awakening from sleep, going shopping, and contemplating boredom, loneliness, or life during the pandemic, interspersing snappy comments like “Paper or plastic?” with profundities. All of which leaves readers on edge, which is Gabbert’s intention.
PREMIUM
Turn Up the Ocean: Poems
Hoagland’s poetry earns the oft-misused adjective uncompromising for its directness in the face of reality’s “blithering whirlwind of wonder.” Though one wishes his life had not ended so soon, this collection will stand as a fitting capstone to a stellar poetic career.
PREMIUM
And Yet: Poems
An uneven poetry collection, but ultimately, the author’s pulse on social mores makes for an interesting read, as does her hard-earned understanding of married love and family life during bleak pandemic times. Recommended for public libraries.
PREMIUM
O
Hashem Beck does a brilliant job of blending the personal with larger themes, and readers will find themselves transported by this collection, whether it be to a dermatologist’s office or Babel or an olive tree from the past, with initials carved into its trunk. For most collections.
PREMIUM
Ante body
Helal is a powerful voice in poetry, and this newest work does an excellent job of challenging readers to think differently about society. Those unfamiliar with Helal’s work may benefit from reading the author’s notes before diving into the poems, to get a better understanding of the collection and the formatting.
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