Constituents of Matter
Anna Leahy - No. 13

“Found in these pages is simple profundity, desire unmitigated, the things we wish for each other, the science of absolutes so easy to understand, and so devastating: these poems put complex moments in such a straightforward context that we grasp not simply the words but the full feeling as something we have felt in some kind of similar vocabulary.”— Alberto Ríos, Judge

Intaglio
Ariana-Sophia M. Kartsonis - No. 12

“The image evoked by Intaglio, this first collection by Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis, rests on a paradox, one perhaps central to the poetic impulse itself: that design can be shaped by what is cut away, by the loss that surrounds it, so that what is missing creates the negative space which raises the figure in relief, presents it to sight, and touch. Relief: a word whose two meanings—one artistic and material, the other emotional and intangible, together suggest how art engraves meaning.”—Eleanor Wilner, Judge

Trying to Speak
Anele Rubin - No. 11

“The voice [in Anele Rubin’s poems] is so new, and yet the movement is so artful, subtle, and modest—there are never any theatrics in these poems. They never yowl, Pay attention to me! . . . Rubin is on the same wave-length with Tomas Tranströmer and Yehuda Amichai. . . . The emotional range of her poems, like theirs, is enormous, as is the range of locales, many of which I know well, and yet in Trying to Speak, they appear with a clarity that had eluded me.”— Philip Levine, Judge

Rooms and Fields
Dramatic Monologues from the War in Bosnia
Lee Peterson - No. 10

“These poems are full of surprises: the gods talk; ancient authors talk; the dictionary talks; the dead talk; wolves talk; a teacher talks, with a chorus. Sometimes I like to imagine this long poem being staged. What the music would be! Who would do the sets! What languages...”
—Jean Valentine

The Drowned Girl
Eve Alexandra - No. 9

“Eve Alexandra wields a tender, sharp honesty. The lines cut and dice, arc and glimmer in the light of her lyricism and intelligence. These poems will open you, make you bleed, make you wonder.”
—Terrance Hayes

Back Through Interruption
Kate Northrop - No. 8

Kate Northrop's Back Through Interruption is a deeply moving and thought-provoking collection of poetry. It takes the reader through a world that is at once beautiful and tragic, sacrosanct and profane.

Paper Cathedrals
Morri Creech - No. 7

Paper Cathedrals confronts the tensions between the here and the hereafter, gravity and grace, and religious faith and an allegiance to the passing, sensual world.

The Gospel of Barbecue
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers - No. 6

“The Gospel of Barbecue is aptly titled. Honorée Jeffers's poems are sweet and sassy, hot and biting, flavored in an exciting blend of precise language and sharp and surprising imagery that delights.”
— Lucille Clifton

The Apprentice of Fever
Richard Tayson - No. 4

“Tayson's voice is unmistakable: direct, witty, passionate and desperate, in poems with the crucial acid to etch themselves into the reader's consciousness.”
—Marilyn Hacker

Intended Place
Rosemary Willey - No. 3

“Rosemary Willey cannot keep her mind off the real things of this world, touching life where it feels good and where it pains, always snapping the chanced wishbone, and we are richer for her daring talent.”
—Yusef Komunyakaa

Likely
Lisa Coffman - No. 2

“Imagine a love of small towns ringed by mountains, a shrewd ear for lonely folks' dialogue, and a music that seems to pour out of your own life as you read these poems. Likely is a book brimming with surprises and beauty; it left me breathless.”
—Alicia Suskin Ostriker

Already the World
Victoria Redel - No. 1

“I like Victoria Redel's poems because of their braveness and their lucidity....There is no flight here to incoherence; the poems speak plainly and, in some cases, beautifully. The music is lovely and the tone, distinctive....”
—Gerald Stern