Poetry is Not a Luxury Reading List

Michelle Everette recommends collections that purposefully and beautifully blend the personal and the political

 

From A Land Where Other People Live by Audre Lorde

Wicked Enchantment by Wanda Coleman 

Dear God, Dear Bones, Dear Yellow by Noor Hindi 

Homie by Danez Smith 

Thrown in the Throat* by Benjamin Garcia 

The Tradition by Jericho Brown 

Capitalism Calls Poetry Lazy by Wyatt Welch 

Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

Diving Into The Wreck by Adrienne Rich  

American Dream* by Sapphire 

 

*Content warning: A few poems in the collection mention or process sexual abuse.

Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems By Wanda Coleman, Terrance Hayes (Editor) Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781574232462
Availability: Available - We'll have it for you ASAP!
Published: Black Sparrow Press - March 23rd, 2021

Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. By Noor Hindi Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781642596960
Availability: Limited Availability - Give us a call, we'll track it down for you!
Published: Haymarket Books - May 31st, 2022

Homie: Poems By Danez Smith Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781644450109
Availability: Available - We'll have it for you ASAP!
Published: Graywolf Press - January 21st, 2020

Thrown in the Throat (National Poetry) By Benjamin Garcia Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781571315212
Availability: Limited Availability - Give us a call, we'll track it down for you!
Published: Milkweed Editions - August 11th, 2020

The Tradition By Jericho Brown Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781556594861
Availability: Available - We'll have it for you ASAP!
Published: Copper Canyon Press - April 2nd, 2019

Capitalism Calls Poetry Lazy By Wyatt Welch Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781953447586
Availability: Available - We'll have it for you ASAP!
Published: Flowersong Press - August 8th, 2022

Coal By Audre Lorde Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9780393314861
Availability: Available - We'll have it for you ASAP!
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - August 17th, 1996

Time Is a Mother By Ocean Vuong Cover Image
$24.00
ISBN: 9780593300237
Availability: Available - We'll have it for you ASAP!
Published: Penguin Press - April 5th, 2022

Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 By Adrienne Rich Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9780393346015
Availability: Available - We'll have it for you ASAP!
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - April 1st, 2013

American Dreams (Vintage Contemporaries) By Sapphire Cover Image
$15.00
ISBN: 9780679767992
Availability: Limited Availability - Give us a call, we'll track it down for you!
Published: Vintage - June 18th, 1996