Soothe Your Senses with the Beauty of the Written Language: A Look at the Top 6 Best Contemporary Poetry Books
Whether or not you have a love of the written prose and poetry, you might have already gone through the ‘typical’ poetry books during your college years. Now, for the true-blue lovers of poems, you may have bought copies of the best ‘Prose and Poetry’ collections of some of the world’s most famous poets, including William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Pablo Neruda, William Carlos Williams, T.S. Eliot, William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath and a lot more.
Aside from the classic poetry books, every year, there’s a standout collection of contemporary poems written by budding poets which are being published. Have you had a chance you to check them out? If not, read on to find out some of the most beautiful contemporary poetry books that you might have skipped out on reading.
A Collection of the Top 6 Best Contemporary Poetry Books
Here, we will take a look at some of the most beautiful contemporary poetry books which were published between 2004 and 2009, some of which you might not even have heard of but are still worth reading:
-
6. Turning to Fiction: Poems” By: Donna Masini
Billy Collins describes Donna Masini’s poetry book as “A virtuoso conductor of the orchestra of the broken heart.” That sentence is as apt a description as you can get about the author’s poetry collection. That sex is often adulterous, that heartbreak morphs into human loss and that the loss of a lover leads Masini to Jane Eyre – these are just a few tidbits on how the lines of Masini’s poems manage to capture the heart and imagination of her readers through her poems.
-
5. “What Is This Thing Called Love: Poems” by: Kim Addonizio
Charming and unashamed – these are the two best words to describe the modern free verse poetry of author Kim Addonizio. This is already her fourth venture in writing a collection of verses and the “What Is This Thing Called Love: Poems” is as modern as you can get.
The subjects of the book range from the sex, to mourning, to how difficult it is to raise a daughter. As one reviewer succinctly puts it, this is probably the only book published in its year where every poem rocks.
Going through the pages of this little treasure of a book, you would see that the poems are divided into sections: Section 1 – Sex; Section 2 – Death/Sickness/Old Age; Section 3 – Birth/Human Nature; Section 4 – Decadence; Section 5 – Writing Poetry/Creation. Smart, sassy, youthful and unapologetic, Kim Addonizio’s poetry book is as ‘rock’ as poetry gets.
-
4. “The Maverick Room: Poems” by: Thomas Sayers Ellis
If you’re looking for a classic-sounding poetry book which has a contemporary feel to it, then you will love “The Maverick Room: Poems” by Thomas Sayers Ellis. The author already has two poetry books under his name, “Groovallegiance” and “All their Stanzas Look Alike”.
Much like his first two attempts at writing a poetry book, the techniques used by Sayers-Ellis works – his thoughts are that of an intellectual, his language gritty. The title of the book is that of a club and you probably can’t resist the way that he wants you to participate in his prose with lines like “Raise your hands. Holler at me!”
True enough, contemporary poetry will not be an interesting without the likes of Sayers-Ellis who manages to make you feel, taste and almost hear the sentiment behind his poems.
-
3. “Teahouse of the Almighty: Poems” by: Patricia Smith
Published by Coffee House Press in 2006, this book is a collection of poems from a woman whose last work was released 13 years before this one came out. Ed Sanders is the man who chose the pieces for the collection and he said that he was weeping for the beauty of the author’s poetry when he reached the end of the final poem.
“Teahouse of the Almighty: Poems” is actually a Coffee House National Poetry winner, showing just how much of an artist the author is in every sense of the word. Some of the topics that she touches on include sex and sexuality, her heritage, the ‘trouble with the blues’, the joys and pains of being a mother. The depth by which she knits languages to produce poetry in this book is such an experience that will surely touch your heart.
-
2. “National Anthem” by: Kevin Prufer
Should politics and poetry mix? In this collection of poems by Kevin Prufer, that definitely seems to be the case. His work is almost a personal journal of his views about life, love, politics and the beauty of the world around. One of the most interesting pieces in his “National Anthem” collection is his depiction of the life in contemporary America, wherein a boy is locked in the trunk of a car, refusing to die.
Shockingly true with gripping language and bald descriptions, “National Anthem” is a must-have book for everybody who wants to know the true place of politics in poetry.
-
1. “Collected Poems” by: Michael Donaghy
The author of this poetry book, Michael Donaghy, may have passed away in 2004, but the beauty of his poetry lives on. His “Collected Poems” book was published about five years after his passing. According to poet-critic Sean O-Brien, Michael Donaghy is seen as one of the representative poets of the age and the publication of this book is a feat in modern literature. What you will get out of this book is a collection of his more ‘mature’ poems, full texts from his four published volumes, and a number of uncollected pieces.
If you have missed out reading most of these poetry books, then you might want to make it a habit to update your reading list. This is especially true when it comes to poetry – because there’s always a budding poet who will manage to sneak into your heart, mind and soul through the language used in the prose.