How is it that we’re already more than a quarter of the way through 2025? I’m ahead of my reading goals and still feel so far behind at the same time. I’ve packed in plenty of poetry, though, finding lots of wonderful and surprising voices emerging. It’s early, but totally time to check in with some of the best new poetry collections of 2025 so far.
It’s funny how timely these collections are. Keep in mind that publishing moves VERY SLOWLY, so books that have been released in the first quarter of 2025 were probably completed in late 2023 or early 2024, only seeing the light of day recently. So, these collections were written in the run-up to last year’s presidential election. Nevertheless, many of these collections feel like guttural reactions to the world right now. Amazing how prescient art and artists can be, huh?
These poetry collections run the gamut from deeply personal to powerfully political. Let’s face it, those two are often the same anyway, particularly when it comes to poetry. Most exciting to me are how many of these best new poetry collections of 2025 so far are fresh voices to the poetic scene. Let’s dig into those collections, shall we?
 Call Me Home by Harman KaurHow does poetry manage to connect to universal truths? By diving into the deeply personal with incredible specifics, because our human experiences are often more shared than we realize. Kaur’s collection achieves this by exploring the concept of home through her own journeys of spirituality, womanhood, and immigration. |
 Chaotic Good by Isabelle BaafiBaafi was already an award-winning poet before this, her first collection, hit bookshelves. Told in reverse chronological order, this book examines identity and how it is shaped by circumstances. Divorce, love, adolescence, and other big life events shape this collection into five parts of gorgeous poetry. |
 Cosmic Tantrum by Sarah Lyn RogersFirst off, I’m jealous that I didn’t think of that clever title. This is another debut collection that examines self-worth, this time through a variety of lenses. How do relationships shape us? How does business? How about when relationships and business collide? This is definitely one of the best new poetry collections of 2025 so far. |
 Helen of Troy, 1993 by Maria ZoccolaI love it when a poetry collection has a bigger, unifying theme or narrative. In this case, Zoccola reimagines Helen of Troy as a disgruntled ’90s housewife in Tennessee. Bored with her southern housewife life, Helen decides to escape. Through poems of great beauty and humor, Helen soon discovers that leaving and staying away aren’t the same things. |
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What have you been reading lately? Let’s chat in the comments!