The 12 best poetry titles of 2024 (that I want to read next year)

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Last year, cross with myself for not having read any poetry in 2023, I went on-line and made a short list of ‘the best poems of the year’ as promoted on a number of different websites. Then I visited Kenny’s on-line bookshop.

Last year’s best poetry

I wrestling long with with Kenny’s search-and-order database. (It’s only easy to use from the first page, so you should always go back there to start each new search.) I tried to find the poetry books on my short list, or other titles by the same poets, or other poetry books that Kenny’s recommended during my search. (Sometimes older books by the same poet, sometimes books from a different poet but published by the same publisher.)

I ended up with list of 25 or so books and a price tag around €300. Which was a bit steep. So I whittled the list back down until I was left with a more affordable set of 6 or 7 titles. I wrote about these last May (How can you read poetry?)

I read them all during the first six months of the year and didn’t regret a single purchase. Some of the poems, or fragments of them, have stayed with me. In particular, some by Clare Pollard, Adam Lowe and Marjorie Lotfi.

Marjorie Lotfi’s book, The Wrong Person to Ask, has gone on this year to win further plaudits and prizes. I feel almost like a lottery winner when I see that! My feelings are entirely vicarious and completely unearned, but it lifts my heart.

So now it’s time to repeat the exercise. I’ve trawled the Internet and come up with a long short list of 12 titles. Long because I don’t suppose I can afford to buy them all; short because – twelve only!

This year’s best poetry

Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo (Faber)
After You Were, I Am by Camille Ralphs (Faber)
An Arbitrary Lightbulb by Ian Duhig (Picador)
Blossomise by Simon Armitage (Faber)
Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha (Knopf)
Lapwing by Hannah Copley (Pavilion Poetry)
Modern Poetry by Diane Seuss (Graywolf)
Monster by Dzifa Benson (Bloodaxe)
The Orange and other poems by Wendy Cope (Faber)
The Palace of the Forty Pillars by Armen Davoudian (Corsair)
Top Doll by Karen McCarthy Woolf (Dialogue)
Wrong Norma by Anne Carson (New Directions)

The choice is based on the reviews and recommendations I found (see below for all my links), and especially if one title appeared in two or more different lists.

So now I’m off to Kenny’s … What’s that you say?

FAQ

Why don’t I borrow these titles from my local library? I would if I could, but I live in Sweden and I’m unlikely to find most, if any, in the collection. (On this year’s list, Wendy Cope might be the exception.)

Why don’t I buy these titles from my local bookstore? I will look, but again I live in Sweden and even the excellent English Bookshop doesn’t carry recent poetry in much quantity. (Again the exception may be Wendy Cope.)

Why don’t I buy these titles from Amazon? I don’t buy from Amazon if I can possibly help it. Why would I want to support a commercial operation that exploits workers and avoids paying tax? That exists to finance Jeff Bezos fly his penis shaped space rockets or toady to Donald Trump?

Why don’t I buy from the publishers or from a British bookshop? It’s the expense. A slim volume of poetry doesn’t cost a lot, but, since Brexit, British bookshops and publishers put the responsibility for paying European VAT on the purchaser. For me this means the delivery will be stopped by PostNord, the Dano-Swedish postal operation, who will bill me 6% VAT (which I don’t mind paying) plus a handling charge (which I do object to). The handling charge can very nearly double the price of one book.

Why not buy in bulk from one British bookshop and avoid more than one handling charge? Because, from bitter experience, no matter that I ask to receive all my order in a single package, the British shops (and I’m looking at you, Waterstones) will still send the books in many different packages.

Why do I buy from Kenny’s Bookshop? Kenny’s is the only online bookshop I’ve been able to find that carries English poetry books, including some, at least, on my list, and can supply them within the EU, with VAT included. The price I pay is fair. If I am crippled financially, that’s because I didn’t winnow the list carefully enough, not because I am financing PostNord and acquiescing to an unfair Brexit penalty.

Hurrah for Kenny’s! https://www.kennys.ie/