This year has witnessed a surge in innovative poetry collections, with many authors boldly redefining the genre. One standout example is Sarah Hesketh's 2016, which features transcripts from interviews conducted with anonymous individuals about the events of that year. The result is a haunting and poignant collection of prose poems that explore themes of identity, power, and resilience.
Other notable collections include Luke Kennard's The Book of Jonah, which transposes the biblical figure into a world of arts conferences, and Nick Makoha's The New Carthaginians, which employs Jean-Michel Basquiat's idea of exploded collage as a poetic device. These works demonstrate an unwavering commitment to experimentation and innovation.
Karen Solie's Wellwater stands out for its unflinching examination of environmental catastrophe and its focus on the economic underpinnings that have led to this point. Her tone is refreshingly clear, offering comfort through clarity in the face of darkness. The Forward Prize for best collection has also been awarded to Vidyan Ravinthiran's AvidyΔ, which draws on the poet's travels to the north of Sri Lanka and his experiences as a migrant to the US.
Isabelle Baafi's Chaotic Good, meanwhile, is a scathing dissection of toxic relationships that is both playful and incisive. Karen Downs-Barton's debut Minx is another standout, detailing her time in the care system and the discrimination she faced coming from an Anglo-Romany background. Her use of Roma language adds an unexpected richness to the often bleak content.
The most important anthology of the year has been Nature Matters, edited by Mona Arshi and Karen McCarthy Woolf. This collection showcases a diverse range of poets of colour, radically redefining what nature poetry can contain and putting the political dimension of the environment front and centre.
Finally, Simon Armitage's latest collections have seen him explore death and its significance in New Cemetery, while Dwell is a joyful testament to how animals might thrive in a human-dominated world. Two welcome returns have also been made this year: Gillian Allnutt's 10th collection, Lode, which plays with time and memory, and Sarah Howe's Foretokens, which adds a bracing anger to her elegant poems.
One final collection that has left a lasting impression is Richard Scott's That Broke Into Shining Crystals. This stunning work bravely tackles the subject of trauma and its aftermath, finding beauty in the process. The ekphrastic poems inspired by still lifes are some of the most mesmerising examples of the technique I've ever read, connecting pain to painting in ways that are both heartbreaking and transcendent.
Other notable collections include Luke Kennard's The Book of Jonah, which transposes the biblical figure into a world of arts conferences, and Nick Makoha's The New Carthaginians, which employs Jean-Michel Basquiat's idea of exploded collage as a poetic device. These works demonstrate an unwavering commitment to experimentation and innovation.
Karen Solie's Wellwater stands out for its unflinching examination of environmental catastrophe and its focus on the economic underpinnings that have led to this point. Her tone is refreshingly clear, offering comfort through clarity in the face of darkness. The Forward Prize for best collection has also been awarded to Vidyan Ravinthiran's AvidyΔ, which draws on the poet's travels to the north of Sri Lanka and his experiences as a migrant to the US.
Isabelle Baafi's Chaotic Good, meanwhile, is a scathing dissection of toxic relationships that is both playful and incisive. Karen Downs-Barton's debut Minx is another standout, detailing her time in the care system and the discrimination she faced coming from an Anglo-Romany background. Her use of Roma language adds an unexpected richness to the often bleak content.
The most important anthology of the year has been Nature Matters, edited by Mona Arshi and Karen McCarthy Woolf. This collection showcases a diverse range of poets of colour, radically redefining what nature poetry can contain and putting the political dimension of the environment front and centre.
Finally, Simon Armitage's latest collections have seen him explore death and its significance in New Cemetery, while Dwell is a joyful testament to how animals might thrive in a human-dominated world. Two welcome returns have also been made this year: Gillian Allnutt's 10th collection, Lode, which plays with time and memory, and Sarah Howe's Foretokens, which adds a bracing anger to her elegant poems.
One final collection that has left a lasting impression is Richard Scott's That Broke Into Shining Crystals. This stunning work bravely tackles the subject of trauma and its aftermath, finding beauty in the process. The ekphrastic poems inspired by still lifes are some of the most mesmerising examples of the technique I've ever read, connecting pain to painting in ways that are both heartbreaking and transcendent.
! Nature Matters is a great reminder that nature poetry doesn't have to be all about birds and flowers 
... it can also tackle tough environmental issues like climate change 
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. And I love how some collections are using innovative techniques like transcripts from interviews or exploring new forms of ekphrastic poetry 
... It just goes to show that there's always room for experimentation and creativity in art 
.
. As a parent, I've seen my kids deal with anxiety and uncertainty, and it's amazing to see poetry collection like Wellwater or Chaotic Good that can help process those emotions in a way that's both powerful and relatable 
.
... and I'm here for it 
!
I mean, what's next? A surge in innovative sock designs? 
I know some people might say it's all about experimentation and pushing boundaries, but to me, it just seems like a bunch of fancy words strung together. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some talented poets out there, but I'm not convinced that this is the most exciting thing happening in literature right now. 
And can we talk about how "radically redefining what nature poetry can contain" is just a fancy way of saying "including more diverse voices"? 
Nature Matters is like totally game changing for poetry collections! They're showcasing this amazing diverse range of poets of colour and it's so refreshing to see a radical shift in what nature poetry can contain 
It's also awesome to see more women taking center stage and making their voices heard 
it's not always easy to read about these things, but when poets are willing to tackle them head-on, that's some powerful stuff 
. And I'm so glad to see more diverse voices in Nature Matters, it's long overdue 
. The way these poets are pushing boundaries and redefining what poetry can do is truly inspiring 
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I love how Sarah Hesketh's transcripts from interviews created a haunting collection about identity and power 
. And Sarah Howe's Foretokens brings that anger and elegance together, it's like a breath of fresh air 
. It's an amazing time to be reading poetry, and I'm so grateful for collections like these! 
I mean, seriously, who thought it was a good idea to put the Bible in an arts conference setting? Luke Kennard's The Book of Jonah is basically just a pretentious joke, imo.
. I'm loving how this year has highlighted poets of colour, like Mona Arshi and Karen McCarthy Woolf in Nature Matters 
. They're not just standalone works; they're all contributing to a bigger discussion about the world we live in and how we can make it better