The Feminist Know-It-All: You know her. You can’t stand her. Good thing she’s not here! Instead, this column by gender and women’s studies librarian Karla Strand will amplify stories of the creation, access, use and preservation of knowledge by women and girls around the world; share innovative projects and initiatives that focus on information, literacies, libraries and more; and, of course, talk about all of the books.
April is National Poetry Month!
Since my dormant love of poetry was reignited, I’ve found it so refreshing and inspiring to read beautiful collections each year and share my thoughts with you.
Below are some of the most exciting and necessary collections published late last year and forthcoming in 2022.
Last year I tried something a bit different with the poetry list: Instead of the usual blurb, I focused my thoughts about each collection into three words (okay, or phrases—this is hard!). Readers responded so well to it that I am doing it again this year! Sometimes the words are nouns, sometimes verbs, sometimes adjectives, and I may have just made up some words too. Since I find it challenging to be succinct, this is a valuable exercise in imagination, reflection and, well, restraint.
Speaking of restraint … I have to seriously think about which titles to include on this list. Many fantastic collections are being released, but unfortunately, I couldn’t include them all. I’ve included the 66 below for a variety of reasons: because they meet my criteria (above), because they are especially unique, because I wanted to shine a light on them, they are from debut authors, indie publishers, or because they stood out to me for any other reason. The ones that are currently available are presented first in alphabetical order; forthcoming titles are then listed by on-sale date.
So I hope you enjoy and find some collections below that will have you reflecting on how poetry moves you, challenges you and represents you.
Against Heaven: Poems
By Kemi Alabi (@kemiaalabi). Graywolf Press. 80 pages. Out now.
Choral, righteous, regenerative.
All the Flowers Kneeling
By Paul Tran (@speakdeadly). Penguin Poets. 112 pages. Out now.
Deliberate, immediate, ash.
antes que isla es volcán / before island is volcano
By Raquel Salas Rivera (@rugamarspr). Beacon Press. 160 pages. Out now.
Colonized, treated, unchained.
Beast at Every Threshold
By Natalie Wee (@natweewriter). Arsenal Pulp Press. 80 pages. Out now.
Form, echo, affect.
Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Poems
By Brionne Janae (@BreezyJanae). Northwestern University Press. 80 pages. Out now.
Confession, heirloom, bloom.
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems
By Warsan Shire (@warsan_shire). Random House. 96 pages. Out now.
Evocative, kaleidoscopic, transcendent.
BloodFresh
By Ebony Stewart (@ebpoetry). Button Poetry. 112 pages. Out now.
Discovery, understanding, power.
The Blood Poems
By Jessica Helen Lopez. University of New Mexico Press. 112 pages. Out now.
Fresh, sharp, guttural.
Born in a Second Language
By Akosua Afiriyie-Hwedie (@akosuazah). Button Poetry. 48 pages. Out now.
Voice, self, birthwrite.
Breakpoint
By Betsy Aoki (@baoki). Tebot Bach. 69 pages. Out now.
Integral, functional, game face.
Broken Halves of a Milky Sun: Poems
By Aaiún Nin (@aaiun_nin). Astra House. 96 pages. Out now.
Love, audacity, bravery.
Casual Conversation
By Renia White (@reniawhite). BOA Editions Ltd. 80 pages. Out April 19.
Collective, unrest, choice.
Cipota under the Moon: Poems
By Claudia Castro Luna (@ClaudiaC_L). Tia Chucha. 80 pages. Out now.
Witness, testament, space.
collective madness
By adrienne danyelle oliver (@dr.adriennedanyelle)*. Finishing Line Press. Out now. (Also check out oliver’s the body has memories out now from Nomadic Press.)
Fragility, embodiment, light.
Content Warning: Everything
By Akwaeke Emezi (@azemezi). Copper Canyon Press. 64 pages. Out now.
Spirit, source, sanctuary.
Customs: Poems
By Solmaz Sharif (@solmazny). Graywolf Press. 72 pages. Out now.
Possibilities, waiting, shimmering.
Father / Genocide
By Margo Tamez (@indigifem). Turtle Point Press. 152 pages. Out now.
Timebending, landguage, sovereignty.
Fire Is Not a Country: Poems
By Cynthia Dewi Oka (@freedewi). TriQuarterly. 112 pages. Out now.
Aunties, interludes, thorns.
Focal Point
By Jenny Qi (@JQiii). Steel Toe Books. 98 pages. Out now.
Bravery, loss, love.
gossypiin
By Ra Malika Imhotep (@lilcottonflower). Red Hen Press. 120 pages. Out now.
Moody, fugitive, still.
Gumbo Ya Ya: Poems
By Aurielle Marie (@YesAurielle). University of Pittsburgh Press. 120 pages. Out now.
Innovative, unapologetic, electric.
Headless John the Baptist Hitchhiking: Poems
By C.T. Salazar (@ctsalazar_). Acre Books. 78 pages. Out now.
Lyrical, spirited, enduring.
Her Wilderness Will Be Her Manners
By Sarah Mangold (@sarahemangold). Fordham University Press. 96 pages. Out now.
Wild, evocative, seen.
How to Not Be Afraid of Everything
By Jane Wong (@paradeofcats). Alice James Books. 100 pages. Out now.
Legacy, survival, joy.
Kaddish: Before the Holocaust and After
By Jane Yolen. Holy Cow! Press. 88 pages. Out now.
Faith, insight, urgency.
The Kissing of Kissing
By Hannah Emerson (@hannah.emerson.poetry). Milkweed Editions. 96 pages. Out now.
Flight, sense, yes yes.
let the dead in
By Saida Agostini (@saidaagostini). Alan Squire Publishing. 68 pages. Out now.
Mythology, ancestry, triumph.
Living on Islands Not Found on Maps
By Luivette Resto (@LuivetteResto). Flowersong Press. 88 pages. Out now.
Vulnerability, restoration, imagination.
A Long Dark Summer
By Helenna Santos (@helennamsantos). Self-published. 97 pages. Out now.
Angst, road trip, magic.
My Grief, the Sun
By Sanna Wani (@sannareya). House of Anansi. 112 pages. Out now.
Risk, reach, live.
My People Redux
By Angela Trudell Vasquez. Finishing Line Press. 40 pages. Out now.
Bridges, home(lands), heritage.
My Sisters’ Country
By Alexis V. Jackson (@alexis_a_poet). Kore Press. 104 pages. Out now.
Fresh, bedeviled, sanctified.
Navigating With(out) Instruments
By Traci Kato-Kiriyama (@traciakemi1). Writ Large Press. 264 pages. Out now.
Expansion, collectivity, ascension.
Prelude: Poems
By Brynne Rebele-Henry (@brynne_rh). University of Pittsburgh Press. 72 pages. Out now.
Legacy, longing, connection.
Quarantine with Rilke
By Asnia Asim (@asniaasim). Finishing Line Press. 44 pages. Out now.
(Dis)quiet, intimacy, longing.
Return Flight
By Jennifer Huang (@jcjklmnop). Milkweed Editions. 96 pages. Out now.
Enveloped, exhausted, enough.
Small Altars
By Keli Stewart (@kelistewartpoet). Bronzeville Books. 80 pages. Out now.
Born, lost, found.
Song for Almeyda and Song for Anninho
By Gayl Jones. Beacon Press. 200 pages. Out now.
Epic, magic, revelatory.
Swollening
By Jason Purcell (@jasonvpurcell). Arsenal Pulp Press. 96 pages. Out now.
Pain, precarity, invocation.
This Is Us Losing Count: Eight Russian Poets
Two Lines Press. 192 pages. Out now.
Memories, dreams, changes.
The Three Harriets and Others
By Glenis Redmond (@glenismakingpoetryreign). Finishing Line Press. 30 pages. Out now.
Stubborn, ancient, named.
Time Regime: Poems
By Jhani Randhawa. Gaudy Boy. 144 pages. Out now.
Fluid, cascading, transcendent.
To Love an Island
By Ana Portnoy Brimmer. YesYes Books. 126 pages. Out now.
Decolonialism, resistance, futurity.
Transverse
By Lindsay Choi (@exboyfriend__). Futurepoem Books. 96 pages. Out now.
Language, layers, invention.
Two Brown Dots
By Danni Quintos (@dleighquint). BOA Editions Ltd.. 112 pages. Out now.
Candor, courage, no joke.
Villainy
By Andrea Abi-Karam (@wolf_hour). Nightboat. 112 pages. Out now.
Unbridled, essential, queer AF.
We Are Not Wearing Helmets: Poems
By Cheryl Boyce-Taylor (@cboycetaylor). TriQuarterly. 104 pages. Out now.
Aging, archiving, beauty.
Woman, Eat Me Whole: Poems
By Ama Asantewa Diaka. Ecco. 96 pages. Out now.
Heartbreaking, fist-clenching, redemption.
The Body Family
By Hope Wabuke (@hopewabuke). Haymarket Books. 80 pages. Out April 26.
“Black/Mother/Diaspora” – Matthew Shenoda, author of Tahrir Suite
Girl’s Guide to Leaving
By Laura Villareal (@earthandstars). University of Wisconsin Press. 80 pages. Out April 26.
Sharp, celestial, free.
Thunderhead
By Emily Rose Cole (@EmilyColeWrites). University of Wisconsin Press. 80 pages. Out April 26.
Scars, separation, spells.
The Trees Witness Everything
By Victoria Chang (@vchangpoet). Copper Canyon Press. 144 pages. Out April 26.
Waka, ache, release.
You Still Look the Same
By Farzana Doctor (@farzanadoctor). Freehand Books. 96 pages. Out May 1.
Ageing, searching, never alone.
Ante Body
By Marwa Helal (@marwahelal). Nightboat. Out May 3.
White space, omission, (de)limitation.
Love, Lyric, and Liberation
By Asantewaa Boykin (@asantewaarn). Nomadic Press. 80 pages. Out May 7.
Impermanence, warning, divinity.
As She Appears: Poems
By Shelley Wong (@shhellywong). YesYes Books. 81 pages. Out May 10.
Expansion, revision, realization.
The Hurting Kind
By Ada Limón (@adalimon). Milkweed Editions. 120 pages. Out May 10.
Brittle, solitude, flight.
You Can Be the Last Leaf: Selected Poems
Written by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat (@mayaabualhayyat) and translated by Fady Joudah. Milkweed Editions. 88 pages. Out May 10.
Wide, witty, defiant.
Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow.
By Noor Hindi (@MyNrHindi). Haymarket Books. 80 pages. Out May 31.
Interrogation, intersection, provocation.
MissSettl
By Kamden Ishmael Hilliard. Nightboat Books. 98 pages. Out May 31.
Singular, multiple, full.
Still Water: Poems
By Jewelle Gomez (@VampyreVamp). BLF Press. Out June 7.
Streetcars, sovereignty, sisters.
The Wet Hex
By Sun Yung Shin (@sunyungshin). Coffee House Press. 128 pages. Out June 14.
Origins, threshold, descent.
All the Blood Involved in Love
By Maya Marshall (@mayaamarshall). Haymarket Books. 80 pages. Out June 28.
Justice, rage, peace.
O
By Zeina Hashem Beck (@zeinabeck). Penguin. 112 pages. Out July 5.
Vagabond, revolutionary, unbreakable.
Girls That Never Die: Poems
By Safia Elhillo (@mafiasafia). One World. 144 pages. Out July 12.
Rebellion, liberation, multitudes.
La Movida
By Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta. Nightboat Books. 106 pages. Out July 12.
Struggle, submission, survival.
And coming in fall:
- Always a Relic Never a Reliquary by Kim Sousa, Black Lawrence Press, out in August.
- Ask the Brindled by Noʻu Revilla, Milkweed Editions, our August 9.
- Song of My Softening by Omotara James, Alice James Books, out August 16.
- Urbanshee by Siaara Freeman, Button Poetry, out August 22.
- Golden Ax by Rio Cortez, Penguin, out August 30.
- The Rupture Tense: Poems by Jenny Xie, Graywolf Press, out September 6.
- Togetherness by Wo Chan, Nightboat Books, out September 6.
- Bluest Nude: Poems by Ama Codjoe, Milkweed Editions, out September 13.
- summonings by Raena Shirali, Black Lawrence Press, out in October.
- Relinquenda by Alexandra Regalado, Beacon Press, out October 11.
- The Symmetry of Fish by Su Cho, Penguin, out October 11.
- Bittering the Wound by Jacqui Germain, Autumn House Press, out October 15.
- The Threshold: Poems, written by Iman Mersal and translated by Robyn Creswell, FSG, out October 18.
- Concentrate: Poems by Courtney Faye Taylor, Graywolf Press, out November 1.
