April allows us to take a deep breath of that warming spring air, and breathe in all of the new poetry ready to grace us this year. As an avid poet myself, I am mystified at how there is always something to write about; there is always a story I want to tell, a feeling I so desperately want to share.
These poets and their upcoming collections continue to grow my understanding of how much inspiration is out there and how each person has their individual story to share.
Here are just a handful of the many poetry collections coming out this year that you can get excited about!
April 18th
1. Working Life by Eileen Myles
This poetry collection actually just came out on, April 18th, and I have been anxiously waiting for it! Working Life explores the seemingly meaningless moments of the everyday. From birds chirping outside a window to having a slice of pizza, this collection is an insight into the facets of life that we all share and maybe overlook. Myles also writes about pressing issues concerning climate change, capitalism, and the beauty of the world around us.
May 9th
2. Many Small Hungerings by William Bortz
Many Small Hungerings delves deeper into grief and loss mirroring nostalgia and memory. Bortz explores love, longing, loss, and what it means to grieve. This gut-wrenching collection can be a soothing source for anyone who has lost someone and feels lost themselves.
May 16th
3. Softening Time by Elena Brower
Softening Time is a collection of poems that draw on Brower’s life as a mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She discusses the feelings that come with those defining roles in her life, allowing this collection to be one of self-help. It is not only a deep dive into her own life but also allows the reader to do the same for their own.
May 23rd
4. Things I Didn’t Do With This Body by Amanda Gunn
Things I Didn’t Do With This Body is another collection that heavily uses sonnets as well as rhyme. The interesting thing about Gunn’s collection is some of these poems were written in a stream-of-pill-induced-conciousness. Gunn invites us to this raw exploration of her truth in love, life, and loss. How our bodies carry the past, present, and future and they are the bodies we will have our entire lives. This is a gut-wrenching, honest collection of feelings and truth.
June 13th
5. Self-Love for Small-Town Girls by Lang Leav
Self-Love for Small-Town Girls does its best to address the pressing question of what it means to be a woman in the modern world. Leav discusses how women often feel like they have to fight to be treated with equality and compassion in not only public but also private spaces. It is a collection of self-love and the shared experience of womanhood.
June 27th
6. Song of My Softening by Omotara James
Song of My Softening is a collection of poems reminding us of our physical and inner selves. It explores Black queerness in one’s self and society. As James’ poetry delves into our physical bodies, we can also explore our identities and where they live inside us.
July 25th
7. So to Speak by Terrance Hayes
So to Speak is quite a mixed-media collection, if you will, drawing on pop culture and using lyric fables as well as sonnets. Broken into three sections, Hayes alludes to many influential figures such as George Floyd, Bob Ross, and Lil Wayne. Hayes is the winner of a National Book Award and this is his seventh collection on how we ourselves and how we see the world using lyrical grammar.
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Keep an eye out for more collections, and be sure to preorder these ASAP!
If you are interested in poetry, click here to read more from us here at Bookstr!