Poetry Makes a Great Present: The Annotated List of Chapbooks

Friday, I wrote a post with recommendations of books for everyone on your gift-giving list. I arranged it by subject matter.


Here's the master list of chapbooks (the master list of books with spines was yesterday's post), along with brief descriptions so that you can get a sense of the book:

The Doors of the Body by Mary Alexandra Agner: a chapbook of poems that revisit primarily female characters from classic Greek mythology and fairy tales (Mayapple 2009).

Passage to America by Elisa Albo: Wonderful poems about the Cuban-American experience. "How to Make a Raft" is one of my favorite poems about immigration and the risks we take for freedom. (March Street Books 2006)

Dear Professor, Do You Live in a Vacuum? by Nin Andrews: For all the teachers on your list, who will recognize all the notes in this collection. (Subito Press 2008)

I Stand Here Shredding Documents by Kristin Berkey-Abbott: These poems show both the absurdities and joys of modern life, particularly as experienced by office workers and by women. (Finishing Line 2011)

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Kristin Berkey-Abbott: I still enjoy the poems in my chapbook, poems which explore how we live with the knowledge that all we love will be lost. (Pudding House 2004)

Saint Monica by Mary Biddinger: Poems that explore a Catholic childhood, poems the explore what it means to be a woman, poems that explore the intersections between religion, gender, and class. (Black Lawrence 2011)

Odes to Tools by Dave Bonta: Bonta writes a poem for every almost every tool in the shed (unless you've got a really well-stocked shed). Even those on your list who don’t like tools will find the poems in this chapbook delightful and accessible. (Phoenicia 2010)

Another Circle of Delight by Rachel Dacus: A wide range of poems that made me think about my body in whole new ways. (Small Poetry Press 2007)

237 More Reasons to Have Sex by Denise Duhamel and Sandy McIntosh: The subject matter is clear from the title, but the whimsy is unexpected and delightful. (Otoliths 2009)

Little Novels by Denise Duhamel and Maureen Seaton: For the English majors on your list--they'll enjoy these revisitations of classic works. (Pearl 2002)

Oyl by Denise Duhamel and Maureen Seaton: (you get the Popeye reference, right?) Fun with popular culture! (Pearl 2000)

Oh Forbidden by Jill Alexander Essbaum: Untitled sonnets of longing and desire. Very sexy, very physical. (Pecan Grove Press 2005)

A Pilgrim's Guide to Chaos in the Heartland by Jessica Goodfellow: This is the book for the astronomers and mathematicians on your list. (Concrete Wolf 2006)

The Third Winter of War: Buchenwald by John Guzlowski: Guzlowski is my favorite poet exploring World War II and the concentration camp/displaced persons experience. (Finishing Line 2007)

Dating the Invisible Man by Gwen Hart: Intriguing poems about relationships, with some pop culture references threading through. (The Ledge Press 2005)

Broken Sonnets by Kathleen Kirk: Kirk experiments with the sonnet form, including the first prose sonnet that I’ve ever read. She shows that even in brokenness, life holds sweetness, whether it’s in the perfection of the sonnet form or the imperfections of love. (Finishing Line 2009)

Dark And Like A Web: Brief Notes On and To the Divine by Nic Sebastian: In April, thinking she would write a poem a day, Sebastian started writing prayers and charms. She posted them to her blog for about a week before she realized she was creating something deep and special. Months later, lucky readers receive this collection of 15 poems in a chapbook. (Broiled Fish and Honeycomb 2011)

Something to Read on the Plane by Richard Allen Taylor: Taylor does a wonderful job at capturing regular, every day life and helping us to remember why we should appreciate it. (Main Street Rag 2004)

Little Spells by Emma Trelles: Poems that explore the weirdness and wonder of life in the tropics, in particular the South Florida tropics. (Goss183 Press 2008)

Stealing Dust by Karen J. Weyant: One of the best of the modern works of literature of the working class. In many ways, a wonderful elegy for the lost manufacturing infrastructure. (Finishing Line Press 2009)

Waiting for Pentecost by Nancy Craig Zarzar: Wonderful poems about all sorts of outsiders. (Main Street Rag 2007)