8 Top Recent Diverse Poetry Titles for Every Library

What Makes Poetry an Essential Library Acquisition?

Poetry has always been the art form to which people turn in times of crisis—in the face of illness, death, or heartbreak, in grief at the loss of what we knew to be true, at the loss of the world as we knew it. Poetry is read at funerals and weddings, at all stripes of retreats and recovery programs, in war, and in all types of worship. It reflects and speaks to our deepest humanity, and through it, we learn to see ourselves. It helps us speak publicly what can’t be said elsewhere. Poetry can help young people see themselves reflected in the world in a way they aren’t elsewhere, and it can offer solace and wisdom for every age. By reading poetry widely, aspiring writers can learn what makes a poem work. Stumbling across a deeply meaningful collection or a resonant poet in the library shelves can have an unquantifiable effect on the lives of library patrons.

At Brick Books, one of the world’s poetry-only publishers, we aim to stand for and lavish attention upon such unquantifiable things, and to make way for perspectives that have been marginalized. We aspire to bring moving, beautiful, and relevant books into the world, to honour poetry as an intangible-but-essential act of attention and crucial mode of speech.

If you or your library is looking to add to its quality poetry collection, we suggest the following recent titles as a starting point. More diverse titles can be found here. All of our titles can be purchased via our website, through UTP Distribution, and in the US and Europe, through Asterism Press.

Top 8 Recent Poetry Titles for Every Library

Why I Was Late by Charlie Petch

Winner of the 2022 ReLit Award for Poetry

With kitchen-table candour and empathy, Charlie Petch’s debut collection of poems offers witness to a decades-long trans/personal coming of age, finding heroes in unexpected places

8.75 x 5.75 Inches | 104 Pages
Publication Date: Sept. 1, 2021
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315579

 

Trailer Park Shakes by Justene Dion-Glowa

Shortlisted 2023 Indigenous Voices Awards
Longlisted 2023 First Nations Community READS Award

The poems in Trailer Park Shakes are direct and vernacular, rooted in community — a working-class Métis voice rarely heard from

8.7 x 5.5 Inches | 96 Pages
Publication Date: October 1, 2022
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315906

 

 MONUMENT by Manahil Bandukwala

Shortlisted 2023 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award

MONUMENT is a conversation with Mughal Empress Mumtaz Mahal, which moves her legacy beyond the Taj Mahal

8.5 x 5.5 Inches | 96 Pages
Publication Date: September 15, 2022
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315845

 

Bear Bones & Feathers by Louise B. Halfe – Sky Dancer

Longlisted 2023 First Nations Community READS Award

In this new edition of her powerful debut, Plains Cree writer and National Poet Laureate Louise B. Halfe – Sky Dancer reckons with personal history within cultural genocide

8.75 x 5.75 Inches | 144 Pages
Publication Date: May 15, 2022
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315784

 

Hsin by Nanci Lee

Winner 2023 J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award

Nanci Lee’s debut explores 4th Century Su Hui’s palindrome of longing. Hsin arises from an ancient Chinese ethical philosophy, less a set of moral standards than an appeal to tune

8.75 x 5.75 Inches | 88 Pages
Publication Date: April 15, 2022
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315722

 

Devil in the Woods by D.A. Lockhart

A collection of letter and prayer poems in which an Indigenous speaker engages with non-Indigenous famous Canadians.

8.75 x 6 Inches | 72 Pages
Publication Date: September 1, 2019
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315098

 

 

Blood by Tyler Pennock

Longlisted 2023 First Nations Community READS Award

Blood follows a Two-Spirit Indigenous person as they navigate urbanity, queerness, and a kaleidoscope of dreams, memory, and kinship

8.5 X 5.5 Inches | 104 Pages
Publication Date: September 1, 2022
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315814

Dream of No One But Myself by D.M. Bradford

Winner 2022 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry

Shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, and the 2022 Concordia University First Book Prize
2022 Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist
2022 Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal Jury Selection

An expansive, hybrid, debut collection of prose poems, self-erasures, verse, and family photo cut-ups about growing up in a racially trinary,
diversely troubled family

8.75 x 5.75 Inches | 112 Pages
Publication Date: Oct. 7, 2021
Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315609

 

 

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