We are born of parents and the times, and we live lives of freedom and preordained constraint (arguably). Thou shall not make excuses. Born the daughter of African and Caribbean immigrants in Britain, queer poet Omotara James earned her... Read More

His talent unmistakable from the earliest days, Walter K. Delbridge was sidetracked by the civil rights movement, Vietnam draft, schizophrenia, and institutionalization—though his recovery was never a question, even while he labored in... Read More

In the best of poetry—unmistakably present and resonant to the reader—we find the physical embodiment of wordcraft: sound, rhythm, music. What Roy Scheele creates on the page is poetry’s equivalent to the enlightenment of the... Read More

A new poet commands spontaneous attention. What never existed is suddenly, irrevocably secured between Ellie Sawatzky and reader because of the power of her work. This debut collection follows Sawatzky’s receipt of the CV2’s 2017... Read More

We can convince ourselves that we know Midwestern soil, a stream bank, the stillness of a cedar fence post, but Ted Kooser shows otherwise in this collection of eighteen poems, his fifteenth collection. He is a Pulitzer Prize winner,... Read More

With wry humor moistening the margins of her poems, Jenny Davis showcases how her Indigenous people have become experts in sorrow and seethe. Director of the American Indian Studies Program and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Davis is... Read More

Introducing something precious to the world is hallowed work, and we imagine Ingrid Andersson derives slightly more pleasure from fulfilling her midwife duties than those of a poet. Her study of German, Swedish, French, and English... Read More

Some twinkles transcend the page; Len Krisak will stop at nothing to roll your eyes, jelly your belly, and lift your better spirits. With degrees from the University of Michigan and Brandeis University, Krisak spent thirty-five years... Read More