Books in the National Poetry Series series

Opening on a scene of tawdry sensationalism, this novel shifts decisively to a world of black middle-class respectability, defined by intellectual values, professional ambition, and an acute consciousness of class and racial identity.

"Ask the Brindled, selected by Rick Barot as a winner of the 2021 National Poetry Series, bares everything that breaks between "seed" and "summit" of a life-the body, a people, their language. It is an intergenerational reclamation of the narratives foisted upon Indigenous and queer Hawaiians-and it does not let readers look away"--

Poetical descriptions of the body, illness, and loss

Selected by C. K. Williams as one of the five volumes published in 1991 in the National Poetry Series, The Surface was the first collection in Laura Mullen's acclaimed career.

Introduces a poet whose work, though it treads the ground of silence and loss, bears a redemptive grace. The sculptor, Gislebertus, Doubting Thomas, Theseus, and John Keats share space in the pages of this book. The poet's lyric meditations unravel a constant play of loss and continuation.

At turns fervent and elegiac, dishy and sly, this title features poems that confront the effect of AIDS and HIV on a brotherhood that dealt firsthand with grief and loss and, later, the tenuous prospect of survival. It includes poems that are unified by their preoccupation with what erodes us and what we can hold onto when life and love devolve.

A winner of the 2010 National Poetry Series Prize as selected by Ilya Kaminsky (author of Dancing in Odessa, recipient of the 2004 Whiting Award, the Ruth Lilly Fellowship, among other honors, and co-editor of The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry), Vizsolyis work perpetuates NPSs tradition of promoting exceptional poetry from emerging poets.Kaminksy writes that Vizsolyis poetry is erotic the way Catullus was erotic, and Mayakovsky. The voice is arrogant and tender, it goes on the nerve, as Frank OHara told us the poet must. This book with knock your socks off. This is real poetry.For thirty years, the National Poetry Series has discovered many new voices and has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and writers such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Denis Johnson, Cole Swensen, Thylias Moss, Mark Levine, and Dionisio Martinez.

A fierce collection of innovative, emotive poetry

Seizes the lives of several classic and contemporary painters - from Caravaggio and Magritte to Francis Bacon and Jackson Pollock - to demonstrate how these artists transformed physical, psychological, and political suffering into art.

Departing from simple observations of the people and setting around him-- neighbors, friends, and lovers in New York City--Stephen Cramer's Shiva's Drum explores personal and familial relationships set to the rhythms of jazz in an urban landscape. Though comfortable at the edge, these poems deal with reality and move forward by transforming pain into beauty.

┬á Selected by Yusef Komunyakaa ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á as one of five volumes published in 1996 in the National Poetry Series ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á "Marcus Cafagña is a poet who shies at nothing, who will ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á not turn away from what he sees--ordinary people struggling against, and ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á sometimes breaking on, the wheel of their fate. The Broken World ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á is a deeply humane and accomplished first book--probing, watchful, compassionate, ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á and necessary." ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á -- Edward Hirsch ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á "I challenge anyone to be unmoved by The Broken World. Cafagña ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á never gives up in these difficult, heart-rending poems." -- Jim Daniels, ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á editor of Letters to America: Contemporary American Poetry on Race ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á The Broken World, the powerful debut of a poet of great depth ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á and maturity, begins with narratives of individuals caught up in circumstance--a ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á distressed girl on a Detroit overpass, a boy shooting baskets at a crisis ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á center. By the end of the slim volume, Marcus Cafagña has led us ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á through the postwar New York of Jewish Holocaust survivors to his native ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á Michigan, where his marriage ended tragically with his wife''s suicide, ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á a death that has come to symbolize for Cafagña the confusion and ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á madness of the twentieth century. ┬á

Fables for the modern age

Traces the hardships and uncertainties, as well as the moments of unexpected sublimity, of a life lived in a continuous struggle between fresh starts and destructive old patterns. This volume mirrors the music of New Orleans. It is arranged in four parts - each associated with a particular Louisiana city.

An exciting first collection of poetry from an emerging talent, Nadine Meyer's The Anatomy Theater was a winner of the 2005 National Poetry Series Open Competition, selected by esteemed poet John Koethe. For over twenty years, the National Poetry Series has discovered many new and emerging voices and has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and writers such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Denis Johnson, Cole Swensen, Thylias Moss, Mark Levine, and Dionisio Martinez.

Spencer Short's Tremolo is a winner of the 2000 National Poetry Series Open Competition, selected by US Poet Laureate Billy Collins. For nearly twenty years, the National Poetry Series has discovered many new and emerging voices and has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and writers such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Denis Johnson, Thylias Moss, Mark Levine, and Dionisio Martinez.

National Poetry Series winner makes compelling poetry from the tumultuous life of blues singer Leadbelly.

Featuring poems inhabited by Charles Darwin and climate scientists, Beethoven and Elliott Smith, this title helps you find a way to navigate the beauty and fears native to modern life. It explores various types of damage with which humans are so closely entwined, from our encroachment on nature, to our propensity to give in to our worst impulses.

A collection of poems by the author who is the recipient of a 1994 Whiting Writers' Award and also the author of "Turtle, Swan" and "Bethlehem in Broad Daylight".

A collection of poems which turn on a dime from the sensual to the eerie, the resigned to the hopeful, the comforting to the shocking. It weaves together layers of dream, remembrance, and fantasy, distilling from romantic excess a gritty, spare language of truth-telling and surprise.

Presents the poems that are rooted in the fertile soil beneath poverty's dust, the border's violence, and longing's desolation.

Selected by Sandra McPherson for the 1996 "National Poetry Series".

Alice Fulton's writing has been characterized by The New Yorker as "electrifying," and the poet herself, according to Publishers Weekly, "may be Dickinson's postmodern heir."