Hi, galaxy travelers and book readers! Today is all about poetry, contemporary poetry to be exact. Have you been wanting to read poetry, especially contemporary poetry, but have no idea where to start or what books to read? Look no further, I’m here to help. Let’s start with the definition of poetry if you’re a newcomer to the subject.

Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language — such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre — to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning (Wikipedia).

First of all, here are some quick facts that are good to remember about poetry. The thing about poetry is that it’s an art form you can consume in any way you like. There are poetry collections about love, about nature, self-growth and so much more. There are long poems, short poems, poems written in the form of a sonnet, haiku or in free verse. The possibilities when it comes to poetry are endless. What I personally love about poetry is the fact that I find them easy to read and that the really great ones have both inspired me and made me take a deeper look at myself and my life to relate to what is being said on the page. That’s why I prefer contemporary poetry over older poetry because it feels that much easier to relate to. Because of this, I have a couple of contemporary poetry collection recommendations for you all.

To make it easier to navigate the recommendations I’ve marked the books written by LGBTQIA+ authors with (❃) and authors of color with (⬖). I have marked my personal favorites with (♕) and the free ones are marked with (ツ).

The first six poetry collections I have to recommend you are,

• The Secrets I Keep by Alex Casso (❃ + ♕). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Love Letters To Nameless by Alex Casso (❃). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell (❃). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• The Female Animal by Elisa Ady (❃ + ⬖). Goodreads & Payhip purchase link.
• Sugarplum by Darshana Suresh (❃ + ⬖). Goodreads & Payhip purchase link (ツ).
• Heaven or This by Topaz Winters (❃ + ⬖ + ♕). Goodreads & Payhip purchase link (ツ).

The next six contemporary poetry collections I have to recommend are,

• Monsoon Dream by Topaz Winters (❃ + ⬖). Goodreads & Payhip purchase link (ツ).
• Lullabies by Lang Leav (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Nejma by Nayyirah Waheed (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• salt. by Nayyirah Waheed (⬖ + ♕). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.

The following poetry collections are also recommended,

• The Chaos of Longing by K.Y. Robinson (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Kalopsia by Andrea Michelle. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link (ツ).
• darkling by Emily Corwin. Goodreads & Payhip purchase link (ツ).
• Black Book of Poems by Vincent Hunanyan (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• The Last Time I’ll Write About You by Dawn Lanuza (⬖ + ♕). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• This is How It Starts by Dawn Lanuza (⬖ + ♕). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.

Furthermore, I also have to mention the following poetry collections,

• Letting Go Is an Acquired Taste by Christina Hart. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• I Am More Than a Daydream by Jennae Cecelia (♕). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Uncaged Wallflower by Jennae Cecelia. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Secrets of My Heart by Imania Margria (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Raw by Hana Malik (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.

The next six poetry books I have to recommend are,

• The Hero Poems by Wendy Xu (⬖). Goodreads & purchase link (ツ).
• Words from a Wanderer by Alexandra Elle (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• we carry the sky by McKayla Robbin. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Bones in the Garden by McKayla Debonis. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• root by Melissa Tripp. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Moon Facts by Bob Schofield. Goodreads & purchase link (ツ).

The following poetry collections also need to be mentioned,

• TAUROGARCHY by Maddie (❃). Goodreads & Payhip purchase link (ツ).
• Rouge by J.R. Rogue. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Le Chant Des Sirènes by J.R. Rogue. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Cold Sober by Theresa Sopko (♕). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• i’m alive / it hurts / i love it by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza (❃). Goodreads & purchase link.
• Your Soul Is A River by Nikita Gill. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.

Lastly, I have these six poetry collections to recommend,

• Love and Other Small Wars by Donna-Marie Riley. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• But Not Up Here by RoAnna Sylver (❃). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Heart by Ayesha Khan (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Words That Kill by Vivid Vega (⬖). Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• Love Her Wild: Poems by Atticus Poetry. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.
• bare roots by Molly S. Hillery. Goodreads & Amazon purchase link.

I hope among these 42 poetry collections you’ll find one to fall in love with. I haven’t read all yet, but I’m so excited to. Do you have any poetry collections you want to recommend that I have forgotten to mention? I would love to know about them, especially any diverse ones.