Whether you’re a hardcore poetry fan or you refuse to go anywhere near verse, I firmly believe that contemporary American poetry has something for everyone. There are loads of poetic forms out there, and many modern writers are turning these forms on their heads to create something new.
It’s an exciting time to be reading, and loads of writers are taking inspiration from the world around us, including music, sports, and pop culture, which means it’s easier than ever to connect with and understand their poems.
Here are ten current poets to add to your repertoire.
10. Mark Doty
Mark Doty is likely the most prolific poet on this list: his first collection was published in 1987. Over the last several decades, Doty’s writing has left a massive imprint on American poetry, using verse to challenge social problems like the AIDS epidemic. His 1993 collection, My Alexandria, was awarded the National Book Award for Poetry and is a powerful examination of loss and mortality.
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9. Jericho Brown
Jericho Brown’s career trajectory has been anything but predictable: at one point, he worked as a speechwriter for the mayor of New Orleans. But his poems have earned him a reputation and, in 2020, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection The Tradition, which explores experiences of Blackness, queerness, and violence.
8. Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong has been having a moment these last few years. The recipient of a 2019 MacArthur “Genius Grant,” Vuong also published his debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, in the same year. His work is informed by his childhood experiences as a Vietnamese refugee and the close relationship he shared with his mother. Night Sky With Exit Wounds is a must-read for the next time you’re seeking catharsis.
7. Danez Smith
A prominent figure in the St. Paul poetry scene, Danez Smith’s work has earned them numerous prizes and accolades, including a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. Their collection Don’t Call Us Dead was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Award, and is a haunting consideration of life as an HIV-positive person.
6. Morgan Parker
Every now and again, we read something that makes us go, “wow.” For me, that experience came the first time I opened a Morgan Parker collection.
A novelist, essayist, and editor, Parker brings these distinct crafts into her verse writing. Her latest poetry collection, Magical Negro, won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, and she’s also been the recipient of prestigious prizes like the Cave Canem Fellowship and an NEA Literature Fellowship.
If you’re unsure where to start, I recommend climbing into a hot bath with a copy of 2017’s There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé.
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5. Marcus Wicker
Known for his rhythmic verse pulling influence from sources like Dr. Dre and Flava Flav, Marcus Wicker is one of my favorite working poets and my go-to recommendation for folks who think of poetry as “inaccessible.” His collection Silencer features cover art by the talented Kehinde Wiley, a painter who is perhaps best known as the creator of Barack Obama’s official presidential portrait.
4. Ada Limón
The first Latina Poet Laureate of the United States, Ada Limón has been writing for over two decades. She has published seven complete collections of poetry and even wrote the poem “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa” for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in 2023.
3. Melissa Lozada-Oliva
Melissa Lozada-Oliva writes for the weirdo in all of us. Her debut poetry collection, peluda, came out in 2017. (The Spanish word “peluda” could be translated as something like “extremely hairy”).
Her poems are often inspired by horror because, in her own words, “I’m scared of everything,” and she often intertwines this with ideas of Latina identity. Her wide-reaching work explores everything from the pressure and pain of achieving rigid beauty standards to the wild fantasy of getting lost in a great movie. If you’re looking for a poet who speaks to exactly what it means to belong, look no further.
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2. Ilya Kaminsky
A force to reckon with, Ilya Kaminsky is a Ukrainian-American poet, translator, and academic. As a teenager, Kaminsky’s family sought asylum in the United States and he began writing poems in English shortly thereafter.
His latest collection, Deaf Republic, pulls from Kaminsky’s experience of the world as a hard-of-hearing person. Structured more like a play than a poetry collection, the book is set in an occupied town during a time of war. Through metaphors of sign language and silence, Kaminsky delves into what it means to be complicit, and what it means to take a stand. This collection is more relevant than ever, and a must-read for absolutely everyone.
1. Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib is my favorite writer working today in any genre. There is seemingly nothing this man can’t do: from music criticism to personal essays to poetry, everything Abdurraqib writes is absolutely swimming in sincere emotion and thoughtful reflection.
Although it’s not poetry, I certainly recommend his latest book, A Little Devil In America, for its remarkable exploration of Black performance and its role in shaping American pop culture. His two poetry collections, however, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much and A Fortune For Your Disaster, will have you wishing for more. And we’re in luck: his latest book, There’s Always This Year, is expected out this week.
There you have it—ten of our favorite and extremely accessible contemporary American poets. Happy reading!
