Poemland by Chelsey Minnis
The way this book is written and organized is unique from most other poetry books in that it uses the structure of the poems themselves as a landscape for the speaker to analyze grief and loss. It’s kind of a metaphysical immersion into the language of the poems that then immerse the readers in the poem itself that then immerse the readers in the speaker’s grief.
Poet in New York by Federico Garcia Lorca
The beauty of this book of poems cannot be overstated! His use of imagery is, at all points, surprising and ordinary without ever being boring or cliche.
The Pulp vs The Throne by Carrie Lorig
This book is one of the strangest, most stupendous books of poetry I have ever read. The poems vary widely in length and style, subject and theme, and length; Lorig’s writing is truly different and intriguing and almost mysterious, and her presence on the page is intoxicating.
40 Watts by C.D. Wright
While a very short collection of poems (one could read it in a single sitting quite easily), there’s a depth to these poems that baffles. The poems, too, are quite short, little more than fragments, and yet they dig into some truly poignant emotional writing that hints at more that isn’t said underneath what exists on the page.
The Art of Recklessness by Dean Young
This is one of the most astonishingly inspiring books on writing I’ve ever read. The writing itself is stunning, but the points made, the journey that Young takes the reader on is one that can only end in the generating of more poems; it’s like the energy boost you get after a strong shot of espresso, only instead of physical energy, it gives you mental and creative energy.
Riley Danvers is an M.F.A. student at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, OR. She is studying poetry and currently working on her first manuscript of poems. Her stories, poems, and essays have been published in over thirty literary journals, both online and in print. Her goal is to be the Poet Laureate of Oregon one day.