14 New Poetry Collections Releasing This Fall
A change of seasons always brings with it fresh brilliance. As the leaves begin to change and birds begin to fly south, grab a new book of poetry and complete that perfect fall feeling.
Here are 14 new poetry collections releasing this autumn that you need to make sure you have on your shelves.
Muse Found in a Colonized Body by Yesenia Montilla
Montilla’s second poetry collection releases September 15 from Four Way Books. “The vertebral odes of this collection at turns uplift desire, affirm life, celebrate protest, and condemn the violent greed of imperial usurpation that has produced the US as we know it,” per the publisher’s site. Her first book, The Pink Box, came out in 2015.
So Tall It Ends in Heaven by Jayme Ringleb
A debut poetry collection, Ringleb’s forthcoming book releases September 20 from Tin House. The book “explores sexuality, estrangement, and the distances we travel for love,” per the publisher and includes poems about belonging, loss, and more.
The Study of Human Life by Joshua Bennett
Forthcoming from Penguin Books on September 20, Bennett’s new poetry collection “[addresses] issues as varied as abolition, Black ecological consciousness, and the boundless promise of parenthood,” per the publisher’s site. Bennett is also the author of the poetry collections Owed and The Sobbing School.
Intimacies, Received by Taneum Bambrick
Bambrick’s forthcoming sophomore poetry collection releases September 27 from Copper Canyon Press. The book “moves through streets and fields, households and years, following a survivor of sexual assault as she painstakingly reassembles a narrative of self,” per the publisher and speaks to isolation, misogyny, trauma, and other themes. She is also the author of Vantage and the chapbook Reservoir.
A Shiver in the Leaves by Luther Hughes
Another debut collection, Hughes’s book is forthcoming from BOA Editions on September 27. Throughout the collection, Hughes “wrestles with the interior and exterior symbiosis of a gay Black man finding refuge from the threat of depression and death through love and desire,” per the publisher, through the lens of the city of Seattle. He is also the author of the chapbook Touched.
Balladz by Sharon Olds
Olds’s latest book is forthcoming October 4 from Knopf. In this collection, Olds “sings of her childhood, young womanhood, and maturity all mixed up together,” per the publisher, among many other topics such as quarantine and sorrows. Olds is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and the author of numerous collections of poetry, including Stag’s Leap, Arias, and The Dead and the Living.
The Symmetry of Fish by Su Cho
Another debut collection, this book, a National Poetry Series winner, is forthcoming October 11 from Penguin Books. The collection “seeks to give voice to those who have been denied their stories, and examines the way phrases and narratives are passed down through immigrant families,” per the publisher. Themes include immigration, language, and memory.
Bittering the Wound by Jacqui Germain
Germain’s debut poetry collection releases October 20 from Autumn House Press. Winner of the CAAPP Book Prize, the book “is a first-person retelling of the 2014 Ferguson uprising,” per the publisher, and “challenges the way we discuss, write about, and document political unrest.” She is also the author of the chapbook When the Ghosts Come Ashore and a journalist with stories in The Guardian, VICE, The Nation, and more.
The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On by Franny Choi
Choi’s forthcoming third book comes out November 1 from Ecco. The poems throughout the collection focus on “historical and impending apocalypses, alongside musings on our responsibilities to each other and visions for our collective survival,” per the publisher, and also imagines a hopeful togetherness through multiple facets of life. She is also the author of Soft Science, Floating, Brilliant, Gone, and the chapbook Death by Sex Machine.
Concentrate by Courtney Faye Taylor
Taylor’s debut collection, winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, releases November 1 from Graywolf Press. The book takes “a collage-like approach to collective history and storytelling,” per the publisher’s site, “[presenting] a profound look into the insidious points at which violence originates against—and between—women of color.” Her work has been featured in Poetry, The Nation, and other publications.
Wound Is the Origin of Wonder by Maya C. Popa
Popa’s new collection comes out from Norton on November 8. In the collection, she “dramatizes the difficulties of loving a world that is at once rich with beauty and full of opportunities for grief,” per the publisher, and a humanity-connecting wonder. She is also the author of American Faith and several chapbooks, including Dear Life.
American Sex Tape™ by Jameka Williams
This debut collection, winner of the Brittingham Prize in Poetry, releases November 15 from University of Wisconsin Press. “Williams offers a deeply personal investigation into how Americans (herself included) have been duped, buying into classism, sexism, and racist beauty ideals,” per the publisher’s site, “while sacrificing the freedom of self-love and self-determination.” Her work has been featured in Muzzle, Tupelo Quarterly, and other publications.
Urbanshee by Siaara Freeman
Releasing December 6 from Button Poetry, Freeman’s forthcoming debut collection retells classic fairy tales and myths through a modern, urban lens, per the publisher. The book “discusses the weight of being Black in America, Freeman’s relationships to lovers and family, and how the physical place you grew up can become part of your identity.” Her spoken word performances and other publications have been featured by Button Poetry, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Offing, and Tinderbox, amongst others.
How to Communicate by John Lee Clark
Forthcoming from Norton on December 6, this debut collection “is a dynamic journey through language, community, and the unfolding of an identity,” per the publisher. Clark explores both grief and the small delights in life and “finds beauty in the revelations of communicating through touch.” Clark is also an educator, essayist, translator, and more.
What poetry collections will you be picking up this fall?
