Poetry for Difficult Times | Recommended Reading, Part I
In this time of uncertainty, as the world faces a pandemic that is unprecedented in our lifetimes, we believe one of the best ways to stay connected is through reading. Over the next six weeks, we’ll be sharing book recommendations on various themes from members of the New School community.
April is National Poetry Month, so we’re kicking off this series by highlighting the poems our community is turning to for comfort, solace, and inspiration.
Recommendation from Honor Moore, Part-time faculty for the MFA Creative Writing Program, author of the new memoir Our Revolution (W.W. Norton, 2020)
“I recommend a poem called ‘Power’ by Adrienne Rich (1974) in her collection THE WILL TO CHANGE and also included in subsequent collections of her selected poems. “Power” always comes to me in times of adversity because it speaks to the double edged impact of disaster — that we might also find within these terrible times the ‘power’ to survive and imagine.”
Recommendations from Jennifer Benka, MFA Creative Writing, ’07, and Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets:
“Again a Solstice” by Jennifer Chang
“Migration” by Jenny George
“The Conditional” by Ada Limón
“Thanks” by W. S. Merwin
“Octopus Empire” by Marilyn Nelson
“The Psychic” by Victoria Redel
“Spring Morning” by Marion Strobel
“Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas
“Danse Russe” by William Carlos Williams
The Academy of American Poets is also collecting and sharing poetry at this time through their new series Shelter in Poems. Throughout the month of April, as we continue to celebrate National Poetry Month, you can share poems that that help you find courage, solace, and actionable energy by using the hashtag, #ShelterInPoems.
Recommendation from Ben Fama, MFA Creative Writing ’15, and author of the the new poetry collection Deathwish (Newest York, 2019)
Recommendation from Xarissa Holdaway, Director of Digital Engagement at The New School
I always come back to Louise Glück’s The Wild Iris in times of difficulty. The book is an ongoing, dynamic conversation between the growing things of nature, the awareness of the universe, and the grieving human soul, taking place over the course of a year. Everything dies, some things return. I can’t think of a better work for this moment. From “Snowdrops”:
Recommendations from Justin Sherwood, MFA Creative Writing, ’12, author of various poems and essays, including the poetry chapbook Low Theory (Seven Kitchens Press, 2016)
“The poet I’ve been thinking about most in the past few weeks is Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), who, through formal verse, often wrote on themes of people living in urban centers (Chicago was her home city), in close proximity, with limited resources. Some of my favorite poems of hers are very specifically resonant in these times. Here are those:
kitchenette building
The Bean Eaters
Of course Emily Dickinson is the poet laureate of confinement. Here are some of her best poems about living in closed quarters:
Before I got my eye put out — Poem #336
I dwell in Possibility — Poem #466
Recommendations from Robert Polito, professor of writing and the founding director of the MFA Creative Writing Program
“Let me start by recommending some recent poetry books I’m currently reading, and clinging to:
Mark Bibbins — 13th Balloon
Tina Chang — Hybrida
Natalie Diaz — Postcolonial Love Poem
Major Jackson — The Absurd Man
Alice Notley — For the Ride
Danez Smith — Homie
Tess Taylor — Rift Zone
Some essential related classics:
Frank Bidart — Half-light
Susan Howe — My Emily Dickinson & The Europe of Trusts
Claudia Rankine — Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
Finally, Dylan’s new song, “Murder Most Foul,” also is crucial.”
Recommendations from Instagram:
Little Hill — Alli Warren
My Gift to You — Roberto Bolaño
Invictus — William Ernest Henley
Leaves of Grass — Walt Whitman
The Captain’s Verses — Pablo Neruda
Poems by Maya Angelo
America — Allen Ginsburg
Separation — W.S. Merwin
Stay tuned for more Recommended Reading next week, as we share our community’s favorite books about Cooking and Crafts.
Do you have a reading recommendation you’d like to include in this series? If so, please share it in the comments or connect with us on Twitter @TheNewSchool.
