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I was on a hot streak of reading essay collections when I realized they all had something in common: they were written by poets. I think historically we talk more about poetry and poets than we actually read poems, which is a shame. It’s a form of art that many believe is inaccessible so they swerve around it, if they ever even come near it. But you can find poetry in many things we love, like music and quotes that get shared on social media.
But I’m not here to change your mind on reading poetry. I am here to tell you that regardless of how you feel about reading a poem, you should absolutely be reading essay collections written by poets. Why? Well, here are three straightforward reasons:
- There is time in a busy schedule to read one essay.
- Not only do poets have a way with words, but they also have a way of seeing the world, processing it, and sharing thoughts that will make you see and feel things in a new way.
- They have a knack for seeing the beauty in darkness and the darkness in beauty, and life is about understanding and accepting that both exist.
So where to begin? Here are six must-read essay collections by poets.
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib could write about watching paint dry and I would enthusiastically read it. It doesn’t matter what the topic of his essay collection is, it will be about far more than the subject at hand. Even if you don’t particularly care about the topic of the essay, you will while reading his work. In A Little Devil In America, Abdurraqib writes a beautiful love letter to Black performers while examining their history in American culture. Then read They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us and There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension. (I honestly couldn’t pick which to highlight here and went with the first one I read.)
Poetry collection: A Fortune for Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib
Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
Like Abdurraqib’s work, this is an essay collection that I needed to own both the audiobook—expertly narrated by the author—and a print copy because hello, annotating! The balance of vulnerability, frustration, curiosity, and critiquing in this collection is an art as Vanessa Angélica Villarreal perfectly blends memoir into critical essays. When I originally wrote about this book, I ended by saying “Run to this book and also gift it to everyone you know.” and that still stands.
Poetry collection: Beast Meridian by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
Inciting Joy: Essays by Ross Gay
Books are a safe way to explore difficult topics and feelings since you can go at your own pace and put them down and breathe when you need space from the subject. Gay is an especially great writer to read in order to dive—or to tiptoe—into discussions of grief because he is able to still see the beauty in everything. It’s like having to do an exceptionally difficult thing while someone wraps you in the coziest blanket and assures you it’ll be okay.
Poetry collection: Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by
Ross Gay
Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe
Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe evokes such a wide range of topics and emotions as she explores navigating the world as a queer Indigenous woman (Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribe) with light skin. This collection includes essays on complicated feelings, colonization (good luck thinking about tulips the same), punk rock, and so much more. Despite a wide range of topics, it all comes together because of her lovely voice.
Poetry collection: Rose Quartz: Poems by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Fumi Nakamura (Illustrator)
The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning by Maggie Nelson
Maggie Nelson’s true crime memoir The Red Parts—in which she meditates on humanity and society while also recounting growing up as the niece of a murder victim—stayed with me because of her exceptional writing. So when I saw that she had an essay collection exploring whether brutal imagery in art distresses us in ways that will lead to social justice or just desensitizes us or inches us towards being cruel, I knew I had to read it. I wondered if it being from 2011 might weaken its relevance but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this particular quote: “[H]aving a strong emotion is not the same thing as having an understanding, and neither is the same thing as taking an action.” It applies to so much of today, especially in social media and politics.
Poetry collection: Something Bright, Then Holes by Maggie Nelson
Looking to add some poetry to your reading life? Check out this guide to where to begin if you’ve never read poetry before, as well as this handy guide for what poetry collections to read based on your favorite novel.