Poetry collection recommendations (and poetry 101)

April 16, 2023 9:57 AM

I'd love some recommendations for poetry. I'm very open to style and type! I'd just like to explore the world of poetry a bit more. I'd be interested in books by a single author, collections, and even "introduction to poetry"-type books that might enhance my appreciation.

I've recently read and liked Maggie Smith, Karen Solie, Mary Oliver, mostly based on recommendation or by reading a single poem by the author and liking it. My normal taste in reading is "weird", for contrast. I've read some "classic poetry" before but safe to assume I've forgotten them and happy to re-read.

posted by Paper rabies to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

For speculative poetry broadly, I did a MeFi post long ago that might interest you. Most of the “weird” of it is quite old school, though Joseph Payne Brenna has some weird + nature vibes.

Louise Gluck might appeal if you like Oliver—her early volumes are haunting.

Charles Simic is a big poet but still worth mentioning given your interest in “weird”—like, The World Doesn’t End or Walking the Black Cat. More surreal than weird.
posted by cupcakeninja at 10:30 AM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

My normal taste in reading is "weird"

I would definitely recommend Penelope Rosemont's anthology Surrealist Women (also available here).
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:34 AM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

On Gutenberg they have five anthologies of Georgian poetry, the first one from 1911-1912 up to the fifth one ending in 1922. Admittedly these poems are by white British men – the fifth volume has some Vita Sackville-West pieces but I think she's the only woman – but artistically it's an interesting passage of time, going from the placid Edwardian era through World War I – the 1916-1917 volume has war poetry from Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves – up to the brink of modernism.

Anyway, they're all free and worth a skim, at least.
posted by zadcat at 10:38 AM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Do you have a used book store(s) near you? I would recommend taking some time browsing their selections. They will probably have a more 'eclectic' selection than a regular book store.

I would pick a few at random and skim through. Note any authors that tickle your fancy (or buy the book). If you see any anthologies, they might also have notes and analysis on types and forms that can better educate you on what you like and dislike.

I got a ready quick and easy overview of what type of poetry I liked as an early teenager by reading through my mom's books from school (high school through university).
posted by mephisjo at 11:07 AM on April 16, 2023

I really enjoyed reading my way through this Poem a Day collection edited by Karen McCosker and Nicholas Albery, as well as the following volumes. The poems are relatively short and they give you a little bit of background information about the poet to go along with each. It can give you exposure to a lot of different poets and then you can pick any you like and chase down more of their work.
posted by sigmagalator at 12:44 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Molly McCully Brown. The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded

From a review in the New York Times:
Molly McCully Brown’s first book of poems, “The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded,” is part history lesson, part séance, part ode to dread. It arrives as if clutching a spray of dead flowers. It is beautiful and devastating.

The title refers to an actual place. The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded was a government-run residential hospital in Amherst County, Va. It opened in 1910.

Its doctors were eugenicists. From the mid-1920s through the mid-1950s, thousands of patients, seen as defectives and moral nonentities, were sterilized without their consent. For many if not most of its residents, it was a house of horrors.
posted by FencingGal at 1:04 PM on April 16, 2023

If you're open to a novel in verse (or maybe it's prose with a poetic sensibility?), Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red is gorgeous and, well, weird is a good word for it.
posted by aws17576 at 1:52 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Also, Marianne Moore's "animal poems" constitute a most enigmatic (but delightful) bestiary.
posted by aws17576 at 2:02 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Anthologies are good starting-points, I think. One series of anthologies well worth looking into is Staying Alive and its sequels (Being Alive, Being Human and Staying Human).
posted by misteraitch at 2:30 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Great suggestions so far!

For clarification: I'm hoping for specific recommendations as there's no used bookstores near me, and I have a newborn - I'll likely buy or library-borrow these through my Kobo to allow for one-handed reading.
posted by Paper rabies at 3:24 PM on April 16, 2023

I really love the first two volumes of this anthology series as it tries to give an overview of different styles so you have names to latch onto later to drill down on who/what you're into.
posted by juv3nal at 5:19 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Rattle Bag is an anthology edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes. I have found that almost everyone likes it.
posted by communicator at 6:03 AM on April 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm trying to learn about poetry right now too. Not sure if you follow blogs but I wonder if you might want to subscribe to some poetry podcasts or read some curated poetry websites that update regularly. That's how I'm learning who I like. I listen to Poetry Unbound and the Poetry Foundation has a Poem of the Day subscription.

(Re your request for "weird" novels, since that ask is closed, I still want to recommend The Vegetarian and Bruja.
posted by latkes at 7:51 AM on April 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've really enjoyed the Poetry 180 anthology - also available at the Library of Congress Poetry 180 website - and the follow-up, 180 More.

A few collections I love:

Like - A. E. Stallings (I don't have This Afterlife: Selected Poems, but I bet it's pretty great)
Serious Concerns - Wendy Cope
Kay Ryan - The Best of It: New and Selected Poems is probably a good place to start, but The Niagara River and Elephant Rocks are great.

Seconding the Poem of the Day suggestion - and poets.org also has a Poem-a-Day.

A final recommendation: if you have a decent library, please check there! (And maybe even ask a librarian for suggestions!) Many libraries have excellent selections of poetry anthologies. My local librarians have been fantastic at suggesting things; I strongly encourage you to see if they have ideas for you.
posted by kristi at 4:20 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]