Poetry

The Poetry Book Society was founded by T.S. Eliot to share the joy of poetry. It's a unique poetry book club and every quarter our expert selectors choose the very best new books to deliver to our members across the globe. Our lively quarterly magazine is packed full of sneak preview poems from all the selected poets, alongside exclusive interviews, insightful reviews by the Ledbury Critics and extensive listings of every book and pamphlet published this quarter. Our Spring 2025 Selections are:CHOICE: Richard Scott, That Broke into Shining Crystals (Faber)RECOMMENDATIONS: Charles Lang, The Oasis (Skein Press) , Diane Seuss, Modern Poetry (Fitzcarraldo Editions), Dane Holt, Father's Father's Father (Carcanet Press), Desree, Altar (Bad Betty Press)SPECIAL COMMENDATION: Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Strange Beach (Fitzcarraldo Editions)TRANSLATION CHOICE: TBCPAMPHLET CHOICE: TBCYou can find out more and join our poetry community today at www.poetrybooks.co.uk.

Gill McEvoy is a poet who moves through the world with all her senses open. The quality of attention here is profound and pays off in an elegance of phrase and originality of image that makes these poems sing off the page. There is often a playfulness at work in the linguistic dexterity of these pieces, as the poet engages in a car chase with the moon or the flora, fauna and meteorology of October are presented as a weather forecast. There is a connection to land here that is lived and authentic, it is never sentimental, but it brims with hope and generosity even in those moments when we know 'the longed-for vision' might never appear.

Sue Lewis has won previous pamphlet awards and one of the many things that delights about her work is that each new collection pushes the boundaries of language and integrity further. The writing is lucid, precise, the metaphors are precise and fresh, but the effect is to take us within-to interior landscapes where there is not certainty but the constant liminality of life in process, the questions and doubts we contend with, the moments of compassion alongside the bittersweet ache for the lives that might have been, while tending to the life that is. There is not a false word in this exquisite collection as it makes its 'risky/tender pilgrimage.'

'There is no such thing/as refuge or retreat' ends one of the poems after layering vivid image on image, leaving us changed for the experience of reading. And it happens again and again-embodied, specific, clear images that deliver meaning that is integral to the experience yet surprising and new. And along the way the emotions build, not from being told or hammered home, but because we are allowed to sense them so deeply that we are able, also, to feel them: the loneliness and the tenderness, the sadness that is reflected back in the green eye of a piece of polished malachite, the loss that lurks in the corner of an office, the romance and the longing. This is a collection to savour, full of words that haunt, it pulls us back to find another layer of meaning, and another...

Grief runs through these poems, most beginning with an epigraph from a diary entry by Emily Brontë, whose first loss was her mother when she was just three years old. We are in an interior world in this sequence, thoughts and feelings pouring through these elegant poems, but always anchored in the body, in the physical. It's in the daily round of kneading the bread that anger is transferred from body to dough till both are transformed; it's in the 'intricate feathery leaflets/sweet chrysanthemum-like scent' of yarrow that refuge is experienced; it's in the imagination of an 'island's sun' that dark thoughts ('a crepe-winged crow') find respite. The poems move between the quiet daily life of a woman who loses those she loves over and over again and Emily Brontë as an extraordinary writer. And in that movement, emotions so earth-shattering, so veined with yearning, so unspeakable in their grief that they challenge death itself, find their form. Liliana Pasterska brings to life a soaring spirit in lucid images that leave us in awe.

A compelling blend of personal narrative, universal themes and spiritual exploration to help you to reflect, connect and find solace in the shared human experience.

"Committed to developing frameworks for defining and evaluating Black poetry, literary scholar Stephen E. Henderson (1925-1997) examined the question: What makes a poem Black? In his critical approach, Henderson prioritized form but not at the expense of source, function, or context, and, in so doing, developed convincing theoretical frameworks for examining African American lyric expressions, especially that of Black Arts poets. Black Saturation: Selected Works of Stephen E. Henderson is designed to expand and enrich understandings of Henderson's critical corpus by showcasing many of his most essential essays, presentations, and syllabi in a standalone volume. Henderson deftly conceptualized the ways in which aesthetic innovations were interwoven with revolutionary exigencies--a marriage of poetry and politics that became a hallmark of the 1960s and '70s. While other critics often ignored or fumbled to construct an adequate rubric for evaluating and celebrating Black Arts poetry--penned by Amiri Baraka, Carolyn Rodgers, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Mari Evans, Sarah Webster Fabio, Haki Madhubuti, and Larry Neal, among many others--Henderson constellated a triad of interdependent characteristics (structure, theme, and saturation) through which he examined Black literature in general and poetry in particular. Revisiting Henderson's scholarship in the third decade of the twenty-first century allows us, on the one hand, to further appreciate his imprint on current scholarship about Black literature, especially poetry, and, on the other, to introduce contemporary students and scholars to his salient theoretical frameworks, not to mention his persuasive critical style"--

Bringing together ideas about poetry, philosophy, medicine, and politics to investigate the relationship between bodies and voices in Romantic-era British literature, Alice Rhodes reveals how Erasumus Darwin, John Thelwall, and Percy Bysshe Shelley came to present the voice as a form of physical, autonomous, and effective political action.

It's no coincidence that this book found its way to you. Within these 111 poems lies a message meant just for you. I hope you discover it-and, more importantly, that it stays with you long after you've found it.I Hope you know will encourage, expand, inspire and move you to the deepest levels. I pray the whole world gets to read these wonderful words - they are music for the soul.Stephen Sainato - CEO, Conscious ConnectThis collection is a beacon of light, a reminder that there is always hope, and within each of us, there is limitless potential. - Dr. Susanne Wolf @mymentalhealthspaceIt's like having a key to a door that will shine light into your soul, gently silencing the noise and banishing the darkness. Amazon USThis book is an emotional compass, that you can refer to when you find yourself off course and need to find a path back to yourself. it will help you move forward and heal. It's a book for Life. Amazon UKA soul-stirring illustration of the human Spirit's capacity to carry on with a deep sense of devotion.Dené Logan, MFT - Author of Sovereign LoveIn this powerful new poetry collection, Barbara Gianquitto helps us to find clarity and purpose when we feel lost, helps us reframe old beliefs when we feel stuck and find strength and hope when the world weighs us down.Navigating themes of self-love, self-acceptance and growth, Barbara Gianquitto's poetry offers a sanctuary of hope, a rock to hold onto amidst the storm of life. She carves out for us a little corner of peace; she offers us a moment to breathe.With poems such as "I Hope You Know", "To be a mother", "In this House" and "Selfies" Barbara helps us remember how important and precious we are by bringing us together in new and meaningful ways through the power of returning to what is perhaps most simple: the forces of love and compassion. She explores what it means to reclaim ourselves whole in a collection that will leave you with more than you thought you needed.Remember, there are no accidents, you are reading this for a reason: Open your heart, open your mind, and let these words reach you.

The campfire that started on November 8, 2018, burned the town of Paradise, California. It was California's deadliest forest fire, leaving thousands of people homeless with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Not only did it destroy my home, but most of my town. I escaped with my life, and that is what inspired my poems. These poems helped me to express my feelings deeply on paper.There were so many people trying to leave town at the same time, and it was bumper to bumper. The fire was moving so fast that several people were burned in their cars. People were abandoning their cars and running down the street on foot. This fire brought many people closer together than ever before. We all had to start over again with nothing.The reason you are reading these poems is that I woke up much earlier than usual on the morning of the fire and wandered down the hall to the kitchen. The clock said 7:00 am, and I never get up that early. I felt so good I decided to stay up, make some coffee, and enjoy the early morning, which I never do. When the phone rang, the voice on the other end said to 'Evacuate now!' These poems will take you on a journey as I found new hope and a new beginning. I hope you enjoy what I have composed.

Can we find within ourselves the ability to achieve serenity?Serenity, I'm told, is the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. But how do we accept the things we cannot change, muster the courage to change the things we can, and gain the wisdom to know the difference?Join Melanie on her tumultuous journey from chaos and destruction, navigating the highs and lows, hitting rock bottom, and striving to find that elusive state of serenity. Some will stay by her side, while others will leave, each playing a role in the boundaries set and the solutions, if any, discovered. Who will offer help, and who will bring pain and sadness as Melanie traverses these challenging times, places, and seasons?Will she learn to accept and let go? Will she find the courage needed? Will she be wise enough to make the right choices? Ultimately, who really wins - the person holding on or the one letting go?