Celebrate National Poetry Month With These Poetry Books

Sam Schraub ‘20 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

It’s finally April which means that it is finally National Poetry Month! To help celebrate the 21st anniversary commemorating an entire genre of literature here are some poetry
book recommendations.

A Poem For Every Night of the Year by Allie Esiri

Allie Esiri’s collection not only has a stunning cover, but has an equally stunning premise. Esiri has collected 366 poems, one for each night, that directly relate in some way to the date they are meant to be read on. Each poem is preceded by an introductory paragraph to briefly describe why Shakespeare has been chosen to read on this midsummer night or how integral Maya Angelou’s work is in celebrating International Woman’s Day.
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen

This recent debut is everything you could want in poetry, combining humor, sadness,
intelligence, love, and loss to create a spellbinding breakout by Chen Chen into the poetry scene. Chen Chen explores what love is between mother and son, the cost of goodbyes, and familial strains through his personal perspective while also exploring what it means to be a queer Asian-American immigrant in today’s setting.

There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce by Morgan Parker

Morgan Parker’s poetry relies heavily on pop-culture and political references in her collection to explore the complexities of 21st century black American womanhood. Parker takes a look at depression, femininity, isolation, exoticism, racism, and politics while simultaneously weaving in the aforementioned cultural references to craft a fantastic cultural criticism.

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Before Rankine released Citizen: An American Lyric, a meditation on racial aggression in the twenty-first century, she released Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric. Don’t Let Me Be Lonely is less poetry and more image and essay based, but still fuses lyrical writing into a bold statement to be read. Rankine develops a strong and intelligent voice to explore political and personal unrest of the 21st century.

The Princess Saves Herself in this One by Amanda Lovelace
The Princess Saves Herself in this One is a fairly emotional collection tackling topics such as love, loss, life, grief, healing, and empowerment.

Lovelace’s story is divided into four sections: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you, piecing together the author’s life and guiding the reader through their own life as well. Lovelace is deeply passionate and raw throughout, creating an intensely moving story.

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth

What better way to celebrate National Poetry Month than with a poetry collection that celebrates a diverse array of poets themselves? Each poem in this collection embodies a different mentor poet in tribute, covering a total of twenty poets, from Emily Dickinson to Langston Hughes. Each poem is paired with a wondrous illustration to create a startlingly beautiful picture book.