We’re all about banishing literary misconceptions around here, and there’s no better time to banish the many misconceptions surrounding poetry than now, during National Poetry Month. It’s our annual reminder that poetry matters, and it’s an invitation to dip into a beloved poetry collection or explore work by a new poet.
There’s magic to be found in poetry, if you give yourself the opportunity to experience it. I appreciate how thanks to the short form, I get to explore countless themes and topics in this genre. Sometimes I read a whole collection in one big gulp, like a novel. Sometimes I read a few poems before bed, or even while I’m waiting for my coffee to brew. One of the best gifts poetry has given me these past years? It’s seemingly tailor-made for short attention spans.
Today I’m sharing five favorite poetry collections that are hospitable to beginners and seasoned poetry lovers alike. These titles are also our flight picks for the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club this month. (More on that in a sec.) We wanted to give readers a focused yet varied sampling on contemporary poetry, and these are our picks. (As you might imagine, naming just five titles was torturous!)
If you would welcome companionship and guidance as you explore this genre, this month the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club is doing exactly that. Instead of reading one book together this month, we’ve curated a collection of thirty well-loved poems to read all in one gulp or day by day, compiled in an exclusive pdf for our Book Clubbers. We’re hosting two special poetry sessions—one class about the whys and hows of reading poetry from poet and author Tania Runyan and one discussion with spoken word poet Amena Brown who will perform one of her works and share her journey into poetry. We would love to have you join us on this literary adventure.
What are your favorite poetry collections? What are you reading for National Poetry Month? We’d love to hear all about it in comments.
5 favorite poetry collections for National Poetry Month
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Kyrie: Poems
Selected Poems
An American Sunrise: Poems
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
What Kind of Woman: Poems
What are you reading for National Poetry Month? Please share in the comments.
21 comments
Kate Baer is phenomenal! I read her latest collection “I hope this finds you well” and it was fantastic. I just picked up Ocean Vuong’s newest collection “Time is a Mother”. Can’t wait to dive into it.
My book club really enjoyed How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope. It was a perfect fit for those in our group who already read some poetry as well as those of us (like me!) who rarely read it.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55879945-how-to-love-the-world?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=hJHEbjZxyZ&rank=1
I highly recommend Rookery by Traci Brimhall and Soft Science by Frank Choi- both incredible works of poetry. Both of them compelled me to read through like a novel would!
Thank you for the recs! When I searched for Soft Science, I found it under the author Franny Choi. Loved it!
benediction for a black swan: poems by Mimi Zollars is a shimmering collection of poetry both ethereal and challenging. Her words create lush images and inspire one to live more deeply, richly, and true to oneself. Both light and dark these poems are filled with both mystical and ordinary grace.
Cate Kennedy, The Taste of River Water. Simple, beautiful language describing the imperceptible shifts within families. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieBFToPv4xA
Joy Harjo’s Poet Warrior is both poetry & memoir. It’s a stunning book, a must read and re read. Cannot recommend highly enough.
Denise Levertov is one of my favorite poets. I have gifted her collection The Stream and the Sapphire to many a friend.
I just checked out her connected works and it’s 1000 pages long! I’ve loved selected ones before and the one I’ve read in this, but am glad for your recommendation of a specific work.
*collected
Hi everyone! I need your help. I checked out an ebook of poetry several months back and really enjoyed it. I think I got the recommendation from one of Ann’s posts. I wanted to order the paper copy, but I can’t remember the name of the book or the author. I do know a few of the poem titles:
Outnumbered
The Jar
The Greatest Show on Earth.
I know this is a stretch, but maybe someone can help. THANK YOU!
I am reading Alfred, Lord Tennyson. His Ulysses is soul-stirring. On March 8, I recited my favorite passage to a curator at the Library of Congress’ Rare Book Room as a thank you for my private tour.
I’m not familiar with your chosen 5 poetry books but I will try to find them.
My 5 favourite poetry books are:
Season Songs by Ted Hughes
A Bird Came Down the Walk by Emily Dickinson
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Complete Works of William Wordsworth
Palgraves Golden Treasury (a favourite from childhood)
Anything by Maggie Smith, Catherine Pierce, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Ada Limon, for starters!
I’m not a huge connoisseur of poetry. I’ve tried a few times, I wish the poets would read it to me because I feel like I don’t always get the cadence. I read Self-Love Poetry: For Thinkers & Feelers by Melody Godfred in December and that book was beautiful.
I recently finished Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman which was phenomenal. I also loved Barbara Kingsolver’s How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons).
My favorite poet is Robert Frost. So IAm reading The Poetry Of Robert Frost. I am originally from New England (Mass.+N.H.) Although he was born in Calif. he lived most of his life in Mass.+ N.H. His poetry captures the people and land of New England perfectly! My two favorites of his are Reluctance and Birches. I have seen his houses, his writing desk and chair. In between I am reading some of Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems. Really like Mary Oliver. I do not read modern poets, so I will give the recommended a go.
Don’t miss Ted Kooser. Wonderful poet.
I adore everything Mary Oliver writes!
If you enjoy Kate Baer’s What Kind of Woman, I would recommend The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy and Magdalene, by Marie Howe.
I started the habit a few years ago of reading a few poems before bed. I hope to never quit! (With a number of volumes from my grandmother, I won’t have to replenish my collection any time soon.) It’s been really satisfying to go deep with a variety of different poets. Poetry collections (and verse novels, for that matter) are like photo albums in my mind: each poem captures one moment like a photograph.
The Art of Drowning by Billy Collins
Just Us: Poems & Counterpoems by Kwame Alexander