By Caitie Woolridge, Rebecca Weigler, Steph Carroll, Charlotte Horsfield
Swiftly following on from National Reading Month is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, here are some exciting new poetry titles to look out for in March, April and May.
Baby Schema by Isabel Galleymore
28 March, Carcanet Press
Isabel Galleymore presents her second collection in Baby Schema, a Poetry Book Society Spring 2024 recommendation.
Baby Schema is a collection of poetry which comments on capitalism, climate change and the relationship between the natural world and the commercial one. Galleymore writes about our relationship with nature, specifically animals, in a cute way which stands out from other lyrical explorations. The poems instead focus on the everyday material aspects of life and how animals have adapted to fit into the man-made world in places such as the Disneyland parks.
With a focus on childhood, Baby Schema contemplates what it means to be a child during a period of mass extinctions and global crises and how this can impact our development as adults. Galleymore likens animals to their consumer-friendly forms in a cute approach to the rubber ducks and teddy bears that connect us to their natural counterparts in our infant lives.
LVOE. Volume II by Atticus
2 April, Headline
For National Poetry Month, three-time New York Times bestselling author Atticus brings us the follow up to LVOE: Poems, Epigrams & Aphorisms. This collection is once again an exploration of Atticus’ inner self as he continues his search for love, peace and acceptance within. Allowing himself to be an open book and to be vulnerable and honest, he invites readers to be a part of his emotional journey.
These beautiful, lyrical-style poems are brought to life with illustrations that help us to have a deeper understanding of Atticus’ explorations of self-love, meditation, meaning, loss and romance, themes which many will be able relate to. Described as an oasis of love, this enlightening new volume encourages us to look inward at the complex and ever-changing human experience.
This National Poetry Month, indulge yourself in more eye-opening and powerful poetry from one of the internet’s most beloved poets. LVOE. Volume II will allow us to once again find a deeper understanding of our inner emotions as Atticus takes us on another wonderfully vulnerable adventure of his inner self, a journey we can all emotionally learn from.
Grief’s Alphabet by Carrie Etter
8 April, Seren Books
Carrie Etter’s devastating Grief’s Alphabet is a set of poems that work together to create an overall story of love, loss and renewal. Etter draws on the unique strengths of the poetic form to explore and highlight major themes, ranging from coping with grief to capturing the joy of normality in everyday life. Central to the poems is the mother-daughter dynamic. Carrie Etter’s writing both celebrates and realistically reflects on the relationship between these two characters. Etter portrays flawed human characters, and the realism of the mother and the daughter characters is striking. The poem's structure adds more than a novel alone could achieve through the considerate use of poetic techniques, such as white space. The title captures how no alphabet exists when coping with grief; it remains simply raw. Grief’s Alphabet will resonate with anyone who has experienced deep loss.
You Are Here by Ada Limón
16 May, Milkweed Editions
With a combination of fifty enchanting voices from the poetry community, all edited by the United States Poet Laureate, Ada Limón, You Are Here is a beautiful ode to the natural world around us and how we take inspiration and motivation from the earth every single day.
This collection invites the reader to rethink what they may already know and expect from poetry about the natural world and the way it has been romanticised throughout literary history. It draws on landscapes both near and far, from poets such as Jericho Brown and Diane Seuss, and looks at how even the smallest of plants or the most breathtaking of mountains can evoke feelings of wonder and grounding in all of us.
This is a one-of-a-kind poetry collection, perfect for celebrating both literature and the earth, and is a must-read this season.