Here are a few suggested books for you. You'll find many more in the Library Catalog.
Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry by 
Black Bone: 25 Years of the Affrilachian Poets by 
The Breakbeat Poets Vol 4 by 
The FSG Book of Twentieth-Century Latin American Poetry by 
The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry by 
The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry by 
The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry by 
Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology by 
100 Selected Poems by
E.E. Cummings is without question one of the major poets of this century, and this volume, first published in 1959, is indispensable for every lover of modern lyrical verse. It contains one hundred of Cummings's wittiest and most profound poems, harvested from thirty-five of the most radically creative years in contemporary American poetry. These poems exhibit all the extraordinary lyricism, playfulness, technical ingenuity, and compassion for which Cummings is famous. They demonstrate beautifully his extrapolations from traditional poetic structures and his departures from them, as well as the unique synthesis of lavish imagery and acute artistic precision that has won him the adulation and respect of critics and poetry lovers everywhere.
Blood Dazzler by
In minute-by-minute detail, Patricia Smith tracks Hurricane Katrina as it transforms into a full-blown mistress of destruction. From August 23, 2005, the day Tropical Depression Twelve developed, through August 28 when it became a Category Five storm with its "scarlet glare fixed on the trembling crescent," to the heartbreaking aftermath, these poems evoke the horror that unfolded in New Orleans as America watched it on television. Assuming the voices of flailing politicians, the dying, their survivors, and the voice of the hurricane itself, Smith follows the woefully inadequate relief effort and stands witness to families held captive on rooftops and in the Superdome. She gives voice to the thirty-four nursing home residents who drowned in St. Bernard Parish and recalls the day after their deaths when George W. Bush accompanied country singer Mark Willis on guitar: The cowboy grins through the terrible din, *** And in the Ninth, a choking woman wails Look like this country done left us for dead. An unforgettable reminder that poetry can still be "news that stays news," Blood Dazzler is a necessary step toward national healing. Patricia Smith is the author of four previous collections of poetry, including Teahouse of the Almighty, winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the Paterson Poetry Prize. A record-setting, national poetry slam champion, she was featured in the film Slamnation, on the HBO series Def Poetry Jam, and is a frequent contributor to Harriet, the Poetry Foundation's blog. Visit her website at www.wordwoman.ws.
The Problem with Solitaire by
From possible apocalypse to the all-night pie diner--from the moon landing, to memory, to the cat's take on death--The Problem With Solitaire considers the question: when we play against ourselves, who wins? with curiosity, compassion, and a stubborn refusal to flinch. Less interested in finding answers than pursuing the paradox itself, Lucia Misch's poetry travels through landscapes actual, internal, and imagined with unorthodox insight and wit. Biography, body, meaning, depression, power, grief, self-determination, and disaster are just some of the themes that ride shotgun. Balancing outlandish visions with moments of bare candor, sincere reverence with shameless cheek, Misch offers readers an agile, eloquent debut collection that never strays too far from its grubby little punk heart.
Never Before by
First haircuts, first kisses, firstborn children. Never Before: Poems About First Experiences explores the ways in which the unknown becomes known. These poems evoke a sense of wonder at the world around us, and amazement at our ability to navigate through it, with all of the necessary bumps along the way. The voices of both established and emerging poets include Kim Addonizio, Stephen Dunn, Beth Ann Fennelly, Jennifer Grotz, Kimiko Hahn, Mark Halliday, Edward Hirsch, Meg Kearney, A. Van Jordan, Philip Levine, Larry Levis, Thomas Lux, Michael Ryan, and Gerald Stern, among many others. This is a diverse grouping and a generous and lively sampling work is showcased on the pages of this anthology.
Say Her Name by
From award-winning author Zetta Elliott comes a stirring and powerful poetry collection that reveals the beauty, danger, and magic found at the intersection of race and gender. Inspired by the #SayHerName campaign launched by the African American Policy Forum, these poems pay tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter. Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls. This collection features forty-nine powerful poems, four of which are tribute poems inspired by the works of Lucille Clifton, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Phillis Wheatley. This provocative collection will move every reader to reflect, respond-and act.
Indecency by
Winner of the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry Indecency is boldly and carefully executed and perfectly ragged. In these poems, Justin Phillip Reed experiments with language to explore inequity and injustice and to critique and lament the culture of white supremacy and the dominant social order. Political and personal, tender, daring, and insightful--the author unpacks his intimacies, weaponizing poetry to take on masculinity, sexuality, exploitation, and the prison industrial complex and unmask all the failures of the structures into which society sorts us.
Don't Call Us Dead by
Finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry Winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection "[Smith's] poems are enriched to the point of volatility, but they pay out, often, in sudden joy."--The New Yorker Award-winning poet Danez Smith is a groundbreaking force, celebrated for deft lyrics, urgent subjects, and performative power.Don't Call Us Dead opens with a heartrending sequence that imagines an afterlife for black men shot by police, a place where suspicion, violence, and grief are forgotten and replaced with the safety, love, and longevity they deserved here on earth. Smith turns then to desire, mortality--the dangers experienced in skin and body and blood--and a diagnosis of HIV positive. "Some of us are killed / in pieces," Smith writes, "some of us all at once."Don't Call Us Dead is an astonishing and ambitious collection, one that confronts, praises, and rebukes America--"Dear White America"--where every day is too often a funeral and not often enough a miracle.
Of Poetry and Protest by
Included in this extraordinary volume are the poems of 43 of America's most talented African American wordsmiths, including Pulitzer Prize-winning poets Rita Dove, Natasha Tretheway, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Tracy K. Smith, as well as the work of other luminaries such as Elizabeth Alexander, Ishmael Reed, and Sonia Sanchez. Included are poems such as "No Wound of Exit" by Patricia Smith, "We Are Not Responsible" by Harryette Mullen, and "Poem for My Father" by Quincy Troupe. Each is accompanied by a photograph of the poet along with a first-person biography. The anthology also contains personal essays on race such as "The Talk" by Jeannine Amber and works by Harry Belafonte, Amiri Baraka, and The Reverend Dr. William Barber II, architect of the Moral Mondays movement, as well as images and iconic political posters of the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X, and the Black Panther Party. Taken together, Of Poetry and Protest gives voice to the current conversation about race in America while also providing historical and cultural context. It serves as an excellent introduction to African American poetry and is a must-have for every reader committed to social justice and racial harmony.
Call Numbers:
811 American Poetry in English
821 English Poetry
831 German Poetry
841 French Poetry
851 Italian Poetry
861 Spanish Poetry
871 Latin Poetry
881 Classical Greek Poetry
890-899 Literature of Other Languages