Happy National Poetry Month

To celebrate this most eloquent of months, I've picked out three poetry collections that we think will get you thinking.

opens in a new windowAll the Whiskey in Heaven
Charles Bernstein

"This gathering of 30 years worth of work by the prominent L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poet and essayist offers a rigorous critique of the art of poetry itself, which means, among other things, a thorough investigation of language and the mind. [...] These exhilarating, challenging poems raise countless essential questions about the form and function of poetry." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

opens in a new windowThe FSG Book of Twentieth-Century Latin American Poetry
Edited by Ilan Stavans

"Beginning with the Cuban poet and patriot Jose Martí, Stavans's selection runs from the lushly formal nationalisms of a century ago, through the world-renowned intellect of Jorge Luis Borges, the expansive passions of Pablo Neruda, and the tender bleakness of the great Brazilian Carlos Drummond de Andrade, to a wealth of less famous, more recent poets." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 

Life on Mars: Poems
Tracy K. Smith

"Laughlin Award–winner Smith's third collection blends pop culture, history, elegy, anecdote, and sociopolitical commentary to illustrate the weirdness of contemporary living. The book's title, borrowed from a David Bowie song, hints at the recurrent use of science fiction and alternate realities (which turn out to mirror this one all too well) throughout the book." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)