Since April is poetry month I thought I would share a few of the poetry collections that I intend to read and write about this month.
I have two poetry books from my favorite small press, Seagull Books. The first is a collection entitled in field Latin by German author Lutz Seiler and translated by Alexander Booth. Seiler grew up in the former East Germany and his poetry is full of images that deal with the borders and boundaries of landscapes.
Things that Happen and Other Poems by the Bengali poet Bhaskar Chakrabarti , also published by Seagull Books, has been translated by Arunava Sinha. A deep sense of melancholy pervades Chakrabarti’s poems.
I am especially looking forward to the collection of poetry entitled 1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution. This volume was edited by Boris Dralyuk whom I had the great fortune to interview about his translation of Odessa Stories.
I also have a collection of poetry from Ugly Duckling Presse entitled The Happy End/All Welcome by Monica de la Torre. The setting for these poems is a job fair by the Nature Theater of Oklahoma from Kafka’s unfinished novel Amerika. So far I have found the first few poems to be both clever and witty.
Finally, I intend to read Dante’s The New Life translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti which was reissued by The New York Review of Books Poetry. I have not taken the time to read any Dante in quite a while so I am particularly looking forward to reading this work.
What is everyone else reading for poetry month?
thebookbindersdaughter.com 
I’ll confess I know little about poetry month, but I do plan to read Peter McDonald’s Homeric Hymns this month. I’ve also got Mandelbaum’s translation of The Divine Comedy awaiting attention.
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1917 is fabulous – hope you enjoy it! I shall have to make sure I dig out some poetry!
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I am really keen to hear what you think of “in field latin.” I have picked it up a few times in the bookstore, but so far resisted. If I can get hold of the final Trakl from Seagull I would like to review it this month. It is, unfortunately quite expensive here relative to the other two.
We do recognize Poetry Month here in Canada, so I would like to read and write about recent works by two Canadian poets whom I have heard read. I also picked a very slim book called Teaching My Mother to Give Birth by Warsan Shire, a Kenyan-born Somali poet from London. Finally, I have a book called Melbourne Journal by Australian poet Alan Loney that I must review. All books are short so it should be a attainable goal to get through them all!
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I don’t read a lot of poetry, but every year I read a little bit more. Right now I’m reading After Swissair by Budge Wilson, telling the story of Swissair Flight 111 in poetry form. I think I like it better when poetry tells a story, rather than just being a description or feeling about something.
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What a striking series of images; even the more sedate shades show up beautifully in the mix! Hope you find some new faves in your project reading this month.
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I must see what I can find. I was given a copy of Simon Armitage’s new collection so I might read that.
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