Friday, 6 February 2026

50 essential poetry books

 

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Poetry is not all Milton and Shakespeare, despite our high school curriculum's best efforts to make us think so. Brimming with new names and modern poems inspired by today's ever changing cultural and political landscapes, this list of 50 poetry books is meant to be a departure from the classics. Among a few icons - Sylvia Plath, Frank O'Hara, and Maya Angelou to name a few - discover up and coming poets and recent award winners like Justin Philip Reed and Frank Bidart. Discover poems about race, oppression, and feminism alongside poems that explore love, loss and personal growth. For seasoned poetry readers and those new to the genre, our list of 50 poetry book to read right now has something for everyone.

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Bright Dead Things
By Ada Limón
Not Here
By Hieu Minh Nguyen
Milk
By Dorothea Lasky
If They Come for Us
By Fatimah Asghar
There Should be Flowers
By Joshua Jennifer Espinoza
Citizen Illegal
By Jose Olivarez
So Far So Good
By Ursula K. Le Guin
Pillow Thoughts
By Courtney Peppernell
2Fish
By Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo
"Dolefully, A Rampart Stands"
By Paige Ackerson-Kiely
Days & Days
By Michael Dickman
The Octopus Museum
By Brenda Shaughnessy
The Bees
By Carol Ann Duffy
The Crazy Bunch
By Willie Perdomo
Brown
By Kevin Young
Collected Poems
By Sylvia Plath
Lunch Poems
By Frank O'Hara
Devotions
By Mary Oliver
The Weary Blues
By Langston Hughes
Float
By Anne Carson
Forever Words
By Johnny Cash
Dart
By Alice Oswald
Indecency
By Justin Phillip Reed
Wobble
By Rae Armantrout
Ghost Of
By Diana Khoi Nguyen
Eye Level
By Jenny Xie
The Big Smoke
By Adrian Matejka
feeld
By Jos Charles
Incendiary Art
By Patricia Smith
Olio
By Tyehimba Jess
semiautomatic
By Evie Shockley

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