Poetry Is Not a Luxury

From the creator of the beloved @PoetryIsNotaLuxury Instagram account, a gorgeously wrought poetry anthology that is a gift and a guide for readers through every season of life.

Inspired by writer and philosopher Audre Lorde's famous claim: "Poetry is not a luxury," this anthology proves the vitality of poetry as a crucial source of inspiration, comfort, and delight.

In a first section, "Summer," you'll find lush landscapes and love poems for weddings and anniversaries, alongside poems on travel, protest, and expressions of sheer joy and exhilaration. "Autumn" ushers in nostalgic poems about home and family and friendship, fall leaves, nesting and gratitude. You may turn to "Winter" should you require a poem for mourning, some lyrics for loneliness, or an ode to comfort. Rounding out a year's worth of verse is "Spring," in which you'll discover celebratory poems, in the form of praise for rain and flowers, new beginnings, and all that the future might hold.

Each poem within has been chosen from centuries of verse from around the world, with an emphasis on living poets. Friends old and new await, with selections from Rita Dove, Victoria Chang, Ross Gay, Naomi Shihab Nye, C.D. Wright, Eileen Myles, Ada Limón, Ross Gay, Ilya Kaminsky, Jos Charles, and more.

From love poems to elegies, from the heights of new love to the furrows of anxiety, from special occasions to a morning pick-me-up, there is something here for longtime poetry lovers and novices, in any season of need.

"Poetry Is Not a Luxury has been an invaluable resource for me the last few years and has introduced me to some of my favorite poems such as: 'Meditations in an Emergency' by Cameron Awkward-Rich and 'I am the horse' by Dorothea Lasky. Poetry curation seems to be an eye for feeling--an understanding of what the moment needs, and how to provide solace or meaning. Poetry Is Not a Luxury does that with incredible care in this collection. Every poem is a revelation."
--Florence Welch
"A perfect curation of incredible poets. I have no doubt that if you allow this book to be your constant companion, you will smile, cry, and certainly feel less alone in whatever you may be going through."
-- Cleo Wade, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"An enduring and expertly curated anthology journeying through the seasonal movements of Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring. From Audre Lorde to Jean Valentine to Mosab Abu Toha--these are the poets you long to have in conversation with each other, and by some well-considered (and anonymous) miracle they have been assembled in shared rooms organized by time, and we have been granted generous entrance to listen, and to wait..."
--Cole Arthur Riley, author of This Here Flesh

The editor is a lifelong lover of words and the anonymous curator of the viral Instagram account @PoetryIsNotaLuxury, which has been mentioned in The New York Times, serves as a resource in classrooms around the world, and dedicates itself to bringing poetry to as many readers as possible.

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