Contemporary Poetry

The award-winning poet Anne Carson reinvents a genre in Autobiography of Red, a stunning work that is both a novel and a poem, both an unconventional recreation of an ancient Greek myth and a wholly original coming-of-age story set in the present.

In the tumult of our contemporary moment, poetry has emerged as an inviting, consoling outlet with a unique power to move and connect us, to inspire fury, tears, joy, laughter, and surprise. This generous anthology pairs fifty illuminating poems with poet and podcast host Pádraig Ó Tuama's appealing, unhurried reflections. With keen insight and warm personal anecdotes, Ó Tuama considers each poem's artistry and explores how its meaning can reach into our own lives.

'Intelligent and unpretentious Modern Poetry for intelligent, unpretentious and modern-minded people.' Barn Swallow. In groups: a mad woman's hyperactive Tourette's tearing at her hair; her flailing fists, and rapid arm-weaving, everywhere and nowhere; alone: a Tartar's arrow-bolt ~ fletched with blue steel... This masterful collection brings exquisite high-art poetry to ordinarily educated readers. Each poem comes with a set of explanatory notes, written by the author himself; and this edition also includes an informative essay to explain what makes free-verse successful. The few technical...

With magic declassified in the UK, the fake psychics and fraudulent healers are running amok, and it's up to the Department of Extradimensional Affairs' newly appointed Skepticism Officers to crack down. But when they set their sights on Modern Miracle, a highly suspicious and fast-growing faith healing cult with remarkably good social media presence, even their skepticism is put to the test.

You’re Not a Girl in a Movie is a new collection of powerful poems by Hala Alyan, winner of the Arab American Book Award in Poetry and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In these nine extraordinary poems, Alyan wrestles with the intimate themes that have driven her acclaimed body of work to date: the aching loss of homeland, the image and worth of women, and the violence of love. In Beirut, Brooklyn, and roads in the American West, she unravels the effects of decades of war and displacement on love and human worth and identity.

"Just three dates. That's all I'm asking. One boy shares your sense of humor. Another has similar interests and ideals. The third boy has a helpful heart like yours." When Aditi Gupta comes home late from work as a pediatric resident one night and her grandfather offers this pitch, she reluctantly agrees. She's far too busy with med school to be dating, and besides, she dreams of a love for the ages, like her parents, not an arranged marriage. And yet she finds herself agreeing to three dates because she loves her grandfather. All she has to do is make herself utterly ineligible.

'Intelligent but unpretentious rhyming poetry for intelligent but unpretentious people.' Queenly Kitten, Rosette of Snows Where few dirty mortals go; Why did God grant pretty grace To a perfect killer’s face? The time is right - and the reading public craves - for a return to rhyming poetry that is both understandable to all but also 'aristocratic' in its artistic standards. When you read this poetry, you will feel as empowered as a prince. The user-friendly edition also comes with poem-by-poem explanatory notes by the author himself, an essay which defines traditional rhyming poetry in ...

Life as a Free Woman brings together a powerful selection of poems by Victoria Milescu, one of the most distinctive voices of contemporary Romanian poetry. Written with intensity, lucidity, and emotional courage, these poems explore freedom not as a slogan, but as a lived condition—fragile, costly, and deeply human. Victoria Milescu’s poetry moves effortlessly between love and solitude, faith and doubt, tenderness and revolt. Her language is precise and resonant, rich in imagery yet stripped of ornament. Everyday scenes open suddenly toward metaphysical horizons; personal experience ...

A tender hate-to-love YA romance about two teens who connect through their high school poetry club, where the power of the written word tears down the walls they’ve built around their hearts. No one in Delray knows Jae Aƒenyo’s story—that she’s a teen mom who placed her baby for...

The Summer of Our Immortality A poetic journey through time, soul, and becoming What remains of us when time no longer promises eternity? In The Summer of Our Immortality, Ana Săcrieru brings her poetic journey to a point of quiet clarity. Following Trilogy of Time—a meditation on temporality and the soul’s movement beyond it—and The Theotokos and the Soul, a profound exploration of love, transcendence, and spiritual motherhood, this third volume of poetry turns toward memory, finitude, and the fragile hope of meaning preserved through love. If Trilogy of Time traced the soul’s ...

New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins captures the essence and mystery of dogs in this special collection of poems inspired by our beloved companions, with striking watercolor canine portraits by Pamela Sztybel. “Collins remains the most companionable of...

A rich and varied collection of contemporary short stories, extracts from novels, and poetry that will go a long way toward informing the English-speaking world of the latest developments in Iranian literature. This sampling - or to use the Farsi term golchine, a bouquet - provides a window onto an important but sorely neglected segment of world culture. We hope it will also serve to awaken further interest in the work and in translations of Iranian novelists and poets.

In this audiobook Maria Popova, creator of The Marginalian, presents a celebration of the human search for truth and beauty through the lenses of science and poetry. Poetry and science, as Popova writes in her introduction, "are instruments for knowing the world more intimately and loving it...

“Book of Longing has exceptional range. It is clear yet steamy, cosmic yet private, both playful and profound.”—New York Times Leonard Cohen wrote the poems in Book of Longing—his first book of poetry in more than twenty years after 1984's Book of Mercy—during his five-year stay at a...

Where Light Meets Shadow is a journey into the luminous spaces between day and night, joy and sorrow, memory and hope. In this evocative collection, Sebastian Grey captures the fleeting beauty of life’s thresholds—moments when the ordinary becomes radiant, and darkness deepens the light. From moonlit forests and autumn cathedrals to quiet hospital rooms and battlefields at dawn, each poem invites you to pause, breathe, and see the world anew. Grey’s imagery is at once intimate and expansive, carrying the reader from the stillness of a sparrow’s perch to the vast, star-lit canopy ...

By any measure, Ed Zahniser is one of the truest poets in America in this century. If you love mountain poetry and wilderness on the page, Adirondack Mountain & Cabin Poems is your next read. Ed Zahniser writes from the Adirondack cabin he's visited since the 1940s. Here is the mountain experience rendered by the poet’s words and beyond. Encounter the bird that reads the poet’s note on the tree and startles away. A harvest of wilderness after-thoughts, Ed’s mountains restore the reader time and again: Paper Birch Scribble scribble scribble idly on white birchbark Leave these on the ...

Purple Wildflowers is a poetry collection about longing, love, loss, and the quiet ache of searching for something just out of reach. Through deeply introspective and emotionally raw poems, this book explores the complexities of grief, identity, and the inevitability of change. From the delicate beauty of a wildflower growing on the side of the road to the weight of memories that never quite fade, these poems capture what it means to love, to hurt, to search for meaning, and to find pieces of ourselves in the things we cannot hold onto. For those who have ever felt like they are drifting, ...

In this Very Short Introduction, Bernard O'Donoghue provides a fascinating look at the many different forms of writing which have been called "poetry" - from the Greeks to the present day. As well as questioning what poetry is, he asks what poetry is for, and considers contemporary debates on its value. Is there a universality to poetry? And does it have a duty of public utility and responsibility?

Discover the beauty and depth of Forugh Farrokhzad's poetry in this carefully curated collection featuring 12 poignant poems, each accompanied by English translations. This unique book offers language learners the chance to enhance their Farsi vocabulary, verbs, and phrases while enjoying the lyrical artistry of one of Iran's most celebrated poets. Each poem is followed by engaging exercises to reinforce understanding, with text including diacritics for vowel clarity. Additionally, a comprehensive answer key and word list, along with Farsi translations, provide essential support for ...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the former Poet Laureate of the United States and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love comes a wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joys and mysteries of daily life. “Among the best poems that [Billy] Collins has ever written.”—Maureen...