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The Best Poetry of 2021

The Book Review’s poetry columnist, Elisa Gabbert, picks her seven favorite collections of the year.

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By Elisa Gabbert

Dec. 10, 2021

This year of slow and careful re-emergence has felt, to me, like an odd one for books. There was so much abundance that it taxed our attentions, and even highly anticipated titles seemed to come and go quietly. I wish I had more space to highlight all of the books I read and loved in 2021, but these seven collections were personal favorites, and the ones I most want to share.

BLOOD ON THE FOG , by Tongo Eisen-Martin. (City Lights, 107 pp., paper, $15.95.) Reminiscent of June Jordan in their near -embrace of violence, these poems have a powerful ambivalence about what effect they might have in the world; they are very aware of being poems: “A non-future dripping with real people/I mean, real people … Not poem people.” “I write poems today/I kill america today.” “Has the poem started yet?/I will tuck your shirt into the earth.” The language is visionary, sometimes trancelike. “It takes a violent middleman for me to talk to myself.” “I’m sorry to make you relive all of this, Lord … Lord, is that my revolver in your hand?” “I am weak first/Before anything, I first become weak.” “there goes the poet — killing without killing — don’t mind this.” Words are not the revolution itself, Eisen-Martin seems to say, and yet this book disturbed me more than any other I read this year. It reminds me that poetry can rewire our thinking — can actually change our minds — by using nothing like the rote language we’re so used to hearing in speech and in prose. It can jolt us out of patterns, back into intelligence.

LITTLE ELEGIES FOR SISTER SATAN , by Michael Palmer. (New Directions, 117 pp., paper, $16.95.) It was a good year for our older poets, with new books by legends like Frank Bidart and Louise Glück , and this, with its stunning first sequence of elegies that call to mind Rilke, Celan, Inger Christensen — there’s a way that even poetry written in one’s native tongue already feels translated, as though the language of the mind were always foreign. “Oh, body, where are you going,/body of the earth, lost/double, lost copy of the body/mute body of yesterday/in tomorrow’s shredded cloth?” These are poems about confronting the end, the end of one’s own time and time in general, about repetition (“That is why, each day, when I return/to the illegible page/I must begin again/from the beginning”; “Let us begin, let us begin again/not from the beginning but from the end”) and the paradox of poetry, its ability to say the unsayable, to exist and yet remain unsaid, the utility of futility. “When I think of ‘possible worlds,’ I think not of philosophy, but of elegy. And impossible worlds. Resistant worlds.” “Never beg for mercy/from the poem,/since it can offer none./Do not ask/what language it speaks,/since the answer is none.”

LOVE AND OTHER POEMS , by Alex Dimitrov. (Copper Canyon, 119 pp., paper, $17.) A highly pleasurable, heavily Frank O’Hara–influenced collection in love with moments and New York City and the aesthetics of cyclical ephemerality (see “November”: “Is the first snow just snow./It feels like more”), full of exuberance and wistfulness, longing and joy. The poet is present as a self-referential persona. The last long poem, written over the course of two years in the back of different cabs, is a highlight: “Once I was 19/and now I’m 33 … When I was younger/all I wanted was to be taken seriously./A serious poet! Why not./Now I realize being taken seriously/is as arbitrary as how long you live./I would gladly trade wisdom for youth.”

RETURNING THE SWORD TO THE STONE , by Mark Leidner. (Fonograf Editions, 85 pp., paper, $16.) Leidner is a comic genius, which is to say this book is both hilarious and profound. Every time I have attempted to read “I’m Running for President” out loud, I have cried laughing: “I sew closed the neckholes of my sweatshirts/then sew beltloops along their bottom hems/and slide my legs through the sleeves/because I wear sweatshirts like pants—/and I cut the crotches out of all my sweatpants/for my head to go through/because I wear sweatpants like shirts/with my arms through the legs/and I’m running for President.” But then there are also lines like this: “Life is long for a brief time/then brief for a long time.”

THE SUNFLOWER CAST A SPELL TO SAVE US FROM THE VOID , by Jackie Wang. (Nightboat, 131 pp., paper, $16.95.) Wang is working in a kind of combination of the vivid surrealist, fabulist, scary-funny dream logic of James Tate and something more argumentative, theory-laced, dialectical, like Anne Boyer. The poems employ oneiromancy as strategy, because “interpretation itself is always strategic … politically and personally enabling.” Here dreams are spaces of radical possibility, and as in the real world, the possibilities are sometimes magical (Kant arrives at a party, so “drugs are unnecessary”) and sometimes nightmarish (“You have put yourself at the center of the battle of cosmic forces and lowered your sword./Because you were willing to die, you will be spared./But … /But”) and sometimes both, like dress rehearsals for the apocalypse (“In the dream I was someone clear-headed and focused under pressure. The problem didn’t consume me; all there was to do was solve it”).

THE VAULT , by Andrés Cerpa. (Alice James Books, 85 pp., paper, $17.95.) A teacher once told me that a poem should be like a spider web — if you touch any part, the rest of it will tremble. This whole book feels like that, full of delicate resonance, motifs of color, weather as mood. The “silence in the seam with which to break pills” trembles when we reach “three seamless moments,” whenever anything seems . Consisting of two long poems, open and spacious, it evokes a real sense of lived-through time, of time as a problem to solve over and over. “Nowhere compiles with precision/like dust into books.” “I want the past like a harvest again.” “I couldn’t draw my own face if god asked.” “I feel old/like I’ve only been alive today.” Elegiac and clean and cold, “The Vault,” in its trueness, reminds me of Robert Lowell’s description of Plath’s posthumously published work: It “makes one feel at first reading that almost all other poetry is about nothing.”

WINGS IN TIME , by Callie Garnett. (The Song Cave, 98 pp., paper, $18.95.) There was a period last year when, everyone being understandably miserable, it was fashionable to pre-complain about all the awful books that were surely being written during and about the pandemic, to loudly dread the future when these ill-begotten books would be foisted upon us. As it happens I’ve already read several great pandemic books, this one among them. It refers to itself a few times as “scrappy,” meaning both, I think, resourceful/tough, and fashioned from scraps. (I like the way the word “scrappy” connotes something like crappiness, but in an affectionate way.) Both free and exact, the poems identifiably arise from a specific consciousness, or what we sometimes call a soul. “The virus possibility/is heavy today; I sense a reclamation/Of the past occurring, so remotely,/but what past? … I read about a woman whose life in ninety/Seconds changed./Well, mine is changing/slowly.”

Formatting a Poetry Collection for Self-Publishing

by Gatekeeper Press | Jul 8, 2020 | Blog , Editing

With the passionate heart that only a poet can possess, you make the bold decision to publish your finest works.

Poets are the artists of the written word, eliciting intense emotional responses, and provoking fresh new insights among their readers. The thought of pulling together a collection of poetry and creating a beautiful book is so exhilarating that you may have forgotten one small detail—how to format a poetry book.

Self-published authors of fiction and non-fiction are well aware of the strict formatting practices that must be adhered to before submitting a manuscript for publication.

Authors of poetry face a variety of different challenges when it comes to understanding poetry book format guidelines. The wise poet will adhere to the poetry submission format to avoid headaches in the publication process later, while still enjoying some creative latitude.

Here’s How to Format Your Poetry Book for Publication

As for the actual poetry book formatting, while industry standards exist poetry manuscripts are provided some leeway for the sake of creativity, similar to art or photography books . The poetry formatting guidelines provide the basic structure for publishing a collection of poetry , however, variations are perfectly acceptable.

Here are step-by-step industry poetry formatting guidelines for publication:

Once you have formatted your collection of poems, it is advisable to enlist the priceless services of an editor and proofreader.

Being swept up in the crafting of rich poetry can sometimes blind the poet from the rudimentary elements of syntax or even pesky typos. This is where the editing professionals can step in and fine-tune for the perfect poetry submission format. Once edited, the formatter will then select attractive fonts and add graphic touches or photography,. This step isn’t required but it increases the visual appeal of the manuscript before it goes to print.

Poetry Format Examples to Follow

It’s one thing to learn how to format a poetry book. However, sometimes actually executing the project leaves you scratching your head. This is where some handy visuals can be immensely helpful. Just seeing some finished examples of the poetry book formatting process can provide additional guidance:

Take Control of Your Poetry Formatting

An author of poetry has a very specific vision for their poetry collection. This may include unique typesetting that further enhances the essence of the poems themselves, or just provides an interesting creative visual effect.

Using a self-publishing house, such as Gatekeeper Press , allows the author to maintain creative control over their project while still enjoying the many benefits of having a partner in the editing and publishing process . Gatekeeper Press takes care of the formatting in a professional manner and according to best standards, allowing you to focus your attention on writing poetry.

Reach out to Gatekeeper Press today for invaluable guidance on how to best format your poetry.

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Poetry booklet

Create a poetry anthology for your class, school, or community with this elegant poetry booklet template. You can use this poem writing template to collaborate in creating poems, adding pages, author bios, and pictures. When the poems are finished, publish your collection with this print-friendly poetry booklet template.

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BookBaby > Book Printing > Book Styles & Genres > Poetry Book Printing

Poetry Book Publishing & Printing

How will you love our beautiful hardcover or softcover poetry books let us count the ways. free shipping included, think you'll never see a poetry book as lovely as a tree bookbaby can make it happen in 5 days..

No other genre of book is as associated with self-publishing as the poetry book, or chapbook. Whitman, Eliot, Poe, Pope, Shelley, Cummings, Browning, and so many other poetry greats all paid to publish their first books. Too bad they didn't have BookBaby. For not only did they have to write good poems, they had to struggle to typeset, print, and bind the books that housed them. BookBaby makes this a breeze. You can order beautiful poetry books from the comfort of your home. And our amazing Print On Demand service service allows you to quickly and easily sell your books all over the world. So whether you're looking to send books to poetry publishers or looking to self-publish your own chapbooks, you'll never wander lonely as a cloud with BookBaby by your side.

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BookBaby crafts the highest-quality softcover and hardcover poetry books in the industry. In fact, we're so sure you'll be comparing your poetry book to a summer's day we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We're able to stand by our quality because we print our poetry books right here in our US-based state-of-the-art printing facility. You can order a retail-ready poetry book in minutes, thanks to our book templates and online ordering app. And you don't have to spend a fortune, either. BookBaby lets you order as few as 25 books (or if you want to try us on for size, order just one book for only $99). Our publishing specialists are available to answer your questions by phone or email. Just don't ask them if they have a rhyme for purple.

Choose the style and binding for your custom-printed poetry book

We offer both softcover and hardcover poetry book printing options in a variety of sizes and paper stocks. Poetry and chapbook printing and binding options include: perfect binging, or hardcover (case bound). We can print from your PDF or even design your book cover and book interior. Here are some of our most popular styles of poetry books:

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BookBaby poets can publish and sell their eBooks and printed books in the world's biggest bookstores. We can convert your manuscript into an eBook and sell it digitally in 60+ stores, including Amazon. And with our new Print On Demand technology, you can sell your printed poetry book direct to your readers, without having to pay for large print runs, warehousing, or fulfillment.

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Ebook distribution, how to create a poetry book.

Imagery is important, not just figuratively but also literally. Hire a designer to create a cover for your poetry book that perfectly capture's your art. If you don't know a designer, hire BookBaby's artists to design one for you. Learn more.

Looking to wow poetry publishers? Make an impression by sending them a beautifully-bound, printed poetry book.

Get a copy of Poet's Market , which is published annually by Writer's Digest. It's widely considered the bible for those looking to publish poetry.

Join a national poetry society like the Poetry Society of America (or a local group) and go to their conferences. Bring printed copies of your book with you. You just might meet someone who can help your career!

When I was ready to publish my book, I knew they were an organization to rely on. And they proved it to be true! During every step of the publishing process they were there to keep me informed and to answer every question I had with friendliness, action and answers. I have to truly say that I have never received such fabulous, honest and above-and-beyond service from any company or organization as I did from BookBaby. Cynthia Gallaher

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How to Create a Book of Your Original Poetry

Last Updated: August 4, 2021 Approved

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 81% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 125,741 times. Learn more...

Your poetry may be appreciated by others when it is thoughtfully assembled into a collection. If you want to create a poetry book, you have various options. If you're making a gift for a friend, or simply want your work assembled in a nice book, consider making your own book. Book binding is not as difficult as you would think with a little time and dedication. You can also assemble a manuscript to send to a publisher. If you're not sure your book would work for a conventional publisher, look into the self publishing route.

Organizing Your Project

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Assembling Your Book

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Preparing a Manuscript to Send to a Publisher

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Self Publishing a Poetry Anthology

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Once you send in your material, you should receive a copy of your book of poetry within a certain timeframe outlined by the company. Once you receive your book, you will have a book of poetry to share with your friends and loved ones.

Community Q&A

A copyright for your work is automatically granted to you based on your assembling the collection. However, if there is a chance someone else might use your work without crediting you, register the book with the U.S. Copyright Office. Forms are available at http://www.copyright.gov/ The current fee is $45.00. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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The Best Poetry of 2021
(Nightboat, 131 pp., paper, $16.95.) Wang is working in a kind of combination of the vivid surrealist, fabulist, scary-funny dream logic of James Tate and something more argumentative,...
Formatting a Poetry Collection for Self-Publishing
Here are step-by-step industry poetry formatting guidelines for publication: Use Time New Roman font, 12 point Include a title page with the capitalized title halfway down the page, and the author name below it Margins are one-inch all around, however, manuscripts can use up to 2.5” margins Pages should be numbered
Poetry booklet
Poetry booklet Poetry booklet Create a poetry anthology for your class, school, or community with this elegant poetry booklet template. You can use this poem writing template to collaborate in creating poems, adding pages, author bios, and pictures.
Trail: Paper Poetry Pop-Up
Hardcover. $58.25 16 Used from $16.97 7 New from $58.25. Follow the silvery trail through an enchanting maze of stunning pop-up landscapes that range from tranquil to mysterious to magical. This sparkling creation by multi-award-winning designer David Pelham will amaze and delight all who take the journey through this remarkable book. Reading age.
Poetry Book Publishing & Printing
We offer both softcover and hardcover poetry book printing options in a variety of sizes and paper stocks. Poetry and chapbook printing and binding options include: perfect binging, or hardcover (case bound). We can print from your PDF or even design your book cover and book interior. Here are some of our most popular styles of poetry books:
4 Ways to Create a Book of Your Original Poetry
The first step to making your own poetry book is getting your manuscript ready. To do so, you'll have to write out or type your poems up on individual pages. These pages will later be bound into a book. [1] You can choose whatever size paper you would like, but it's a good idea to use nicer paper than conventional printer paper.