Best 2015, Best Books, Best Year-End, Fiction & Literature, Poetry

The Best Poetry Books Of 2015 (A Year-End List Aggregation)

182 different books were found in the 16 “Best Poetry” book lists we consulted. Of the 182 books, 27 titles appeared on multiple lists.

We’ve added pictures and links for the top 27 poetry books that appear on multiple lists, To see our aggregated year-end lists for other categories, follow the links below.

The Best Non-Fiction Books of 2015

The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2015

The Best Cook Books of 2015

The Best Art & Photography Books of 2015

The Best Graphic Novels of 2015

The Best Biography & Memoir Books of 2015

The Best Science Books of 2015

The Best History Books of 2015



The Top 27 Poetry Books of 2015


27) A Small Story About the Sky by Alberto Rios

Appears On: 2 Lists
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A Small Story about the Sky


26) Application for Release from the Dream by Tony Hoagland

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Application for Release from the Dream- Poems


25) Boy With Thorn by Rickey Laurentiis

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Boy with Thorn (Pitt Poetry Series)


24) Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Bright Dead Things- Poems


23) Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (Pitt Poetry Series)


22) Citizen by Claudia Rankine

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Citizen- An American Lyric


21) Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings- Poems


20) Human Work by Sean Borodale

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Human Work- A Poet's Cookbook by Borodale Sean (2015-02-12) Paperback


19) Loop of Jade by Sarah Howe

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Loop of Jade by Sarah Howe (2015-05-07)


18) Memories by Lang Leav

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Memories


17) Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts by Lawrence Raab

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts


16) My Feelings: Poems by Nick Flynn

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

My Feelings- Poems


15) My Secret Wars of 1984 by Dennis Etzel Jr.

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

My Secret Wars of 1984


14) Oracle by Cate Marvin

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Oracle- Poems


13) Physical by Andrew McMillan

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Physical


12) Prodigal: New and Selected Poems by Linda Gregerson

Appears On: 2 Lists
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Prodigal- New and Selected Poems, 1976 to 2014


11) Report to the Department of the Interior: Poems by Diane Glancy

Appears On: 2 Lists
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Report to the Department of the Interior- Poems (Mary Burritt Christiansen Poetry Series)


10) The Uses of the Body by Deborah Landau

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

The Uses of the Body


9) Twelve Clocks by Julie Sophia Paegle

Appears On: 2 Lists
Learn More About Title

Twelve Clocks (Camino del Sol)


8) War of the Foxes by Richard Siken

Appears On: 2 Lists
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War of the Foxes richard siken


7) Felicity by Mary Oliver

Appears On: 3 Lists
Learn More About Title

Felicity- Poems


6) Heaven: Poems by Rowan Ricardo Phillips

Appears On: 3 Lists
Learn More About Title

Heaven- Poems


5) Notes on the Assemblage by Juan Felipe Herrera

Appears On: 3 Lists
Learn More About Title

Notes on the Assemblage


4) How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes

Appears On: 4 Lists
Learn More About Title

How to Be Drawn (Poets, Penguin)


3) Scattered at Sea by Amy Gerstler

Appears On: 4 Lists
Learn More About Title

Scattered at Sea


2) The Last Two Seconds by Mary Jo Bang

Appears On: 4 Lists
Learn More About Title

The Last Two Seconds- Poems


1) Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis

Appears On: 4 Lists
Learn More About Title

Voyage of the Sable Venus- and Other Poems



The 155 Additional Poetry books Appearing on a Single List


 

  • (guns & Butter)
  • [insert] boy
  • A Manual For Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin
  • A Stranger’s Mirror: New and Selected Poems, 1994-2014
  • A Timeshare
  • A Wild Swan: And Other Tales by Michael Cunningham
  • Alive Alive-O by Greta Stoddart (Bloodaxe)
  • All the Ways You Still Remind Me of the Moon by Liane Strauss (Paekakariki)
  • Among The Wild Mulattos And Other Tales by Tom Williams
  • Approaching Winter
  • Asbestos Heights
  • At Night
  • Barbara The Slut And Other People by Lauren Holmes
  • Beautifu; Nerve
  • Beauty Strip by William Kelley Woolfitt
  • Beauty/Beauty by Rebecca Perry (Bloodaxe)
  • Berowne’s Book by UA Fanthorpe (Enitharmon)
  • Black Cat Bone – John Burnside
  • Blood by Shane McCrae
  • Breezeway,” by John Ashbery
  • Chelsea Girls” and “I Must Be Living Twice: New and Selected Poems,” by Eileen Myles. Wow
  • Cloudshade: Poems of the High Plains
  • Collected Poemd – Mark Strand
  • Cries for Help, Various: Stories by Padgett Powell
  • Dark Green
  • Dark Matter by Christine Klocek-Lim (Aldrich Books)
  • Dark Sparkler
  • Dear Leader
  • Deep Lane by Mark Doty (Cape)
  • Disinformation by Frances Leviston (Picador)
  • Dome of the Hidden Pavilion
  • Don’t Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine
  • Dream Sender
  • Edge of Wonder
  • Emblems of the Passing World
  • Far-Fetched
  • Fly Sings by Mat Osmond (Strandline Books)
  • Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson
  • Freeman’s: Arrival: The Best New Writing On Arrival by edited by John Freeman
  • From the New World: Poems 1976-2014 – Jorie Graham
  • From the Suthor’s Private Collection
  • Get In Trouble: Stories by Kelly Link
  • Grayling by Jenifer Browne Lawrence (Perugia Press)
  • Gutshot: Stories by Amelia Gray
  • Half An Inch Of Water: Stories by Percival Everett
  • Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction by Hannu Rajaniemi
  • Hemming the Water by Yona Harvey
  • her blue body by Warsan Shire
  • Hinge
  • Honest James
  • Honeydew: Stories by Edith Pearlman
  • i Be but I aint
  • I Must Be Living Twice: New and Selected Poems 1975 – 2014 – Eileen Myles
  • I Wrote This For You and Only You by pleasefindthis
  • Iconoscope: New and Selected Poems by Peter Oresick (Pitt Poetry Series)
  • Illustrated games of patience
  • In The Country: Stories by Mia Alvar
  • Intimacy Idiot by Isaac Oliver
  • James Merrill: Life and Art,” by Langdon Hammer
  • Jamie Townsend, Shade (Elis Press)
  • Juan Cardenas
  • Kapusta
  • Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, And Other Writings by Shirley Jackson
  • Love the Strange
  • MAP: Poems After William Smith’s Geological Map of 1815 edited Michael McKimm (Worple Press)
  • Mendeleev’s Mandala by Jessica Goodfellow (Mayapple Press)
  • Milk & Filth by Carmen Gimenez Smith
  • milk and honey by rupi kaur
  • More Money Than God by Richard Michelson (Pitt Poetry Series)
  • Mothers, Tell Your Daughters: Stories by Bonnie Jo Campbell
  • Mr. West
  • Museum of Accidentsby Rachel Zucker
  • My Documents by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowell
  • My Shoes Are Killing Me
  • New Poetries VI edited by Michael Schmidt and Helen Tookey (Carcanet)
  • Nikki Wallschlaeger, Houses (Horse Less Press)
  • On Elizabeth Bishop,” by Colm Toíbín
  • Other Peoples Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night
  • Our Portion: New & Selected Poems by Philip Terman (Autumn House Press)
  • Over the Line edited by Chrissy Williams & Tom Humberstone (Sidekick Books)
  • Patrice Kanozsai
  • Reconnaissance by Carl Phillips
  • Sabatage
  • Sacred Wounds by PW Covington
  • Scree
  • Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire by Brenda Hillman
  • Second Empire
  • Selected Later Poems – C.K. Williams
  • Sentenced to Life
  • Sentences and Rain by Elaine Equi
  • Serious Longing by Jessica M. Wilson
  • Shipbreaking by Robin Beth Schaer
  • Shock by Shock
  • Single, Carefree, Mellow: Stories by Katherine Heiny
  • Skin, Inc. by Thomas Sayers Ellis
  • Solarium,” by Jordan Zandi
  • Sound/Chest
  • Speculatrix by Chris McCabe (Penned in the Margins)
  • Station Zed
  • Sunspots by Simon Barraclough (Penned in the Margins)
  • Supplication,” by John Wieners
  • Swan Feet
  • Syd Staiti, The Undying Present (Krupskaya)
  • Syllabus of Errors
  • Tales Of The Marvellous And News Of The Strange by translated by Malcolm C. Lyons, illustrated by Coralie Bickford-Smith
  • Talking to Diaspora
  • Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life by Jonathan Bate
  • The Arranged Marriage by Jehanne Dubrow
  • The Art of Falling by Kim Moore (Seren)
  • The Birth Mark,” by Susan Howe
  • The Bone and the Body
  • The Book of Feral Flora
  • The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop – edited by Nate Marshall, Kevin Coval and Quraysh Ali Lansana
  • The Clever Dream of Man
  • The Complete Stories by Clarice Lispector, translated by Katrina Dodson
  • The Cumulus Effect
  • The Emperor of Water Clocks
  • The First Collection Of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper
  • The Flower and the Frozen Sea by Michelle O’Sullivan (Gallery Press)
  • The Green Ray
  • The Joy
  • The New Black by Evie Shockley
  • The Poem She Didn’t Write and Other Poems
  • The Pulp vs. The Thorn
  • The Reveal
  • The Road In Is Not The Same Road Out
  • The Robot Scientist’s Daughter by Jeannine Hall Gailey (Mayapple Press)
  • The Seven Good Years: A Memoir by Etgar Keret
  • The Spectral Wilderness
  • The Tsar Of Love And Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra
  • The Turnip Princess And Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales by Franz-Xaver von Schönwerth, translated by Maria Tatar, illustrated by Engelbert Suss
  • The Visiting Privilege: New And Collected Stories by Joy Williams
  • The Water Museum: Stories by Luis Alberto Urrea
  • The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison by Maggie Smith (Tupelo Press)
  • The Wonder Garden
  • The Wrong Cat
  • There’s Something I Want You To Do: Stories by Charles Baxter
  • Thirteen Ways Of Looking: Fiction by Colum McCann
  • Three Dragon Day by David Tait (smith | doorstop)
  • Three Moments Of An Explosion: Stories by China Miéville
  • Tonya M. Foster, A Swarm of Bees in High Court (Belladonna)
  • Trece latas de atun por Amandititita
  • Tropisms by Nathalie Sarraute, translated by Maria Jolas
  • Turning Into Dwelling.”
  • Twelve Stations by Tomasz Rózycki
  • Un libro multigenero poesia fluida.
  • Un/Inhabited
  • Void and compension
  • Waiting for the Past
  • What kind of film would your book be and who would direct it?
  • When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Diaz
  • Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads by Amy Acre (Flipped Eye)
  • Wild Hundreds by Nate Marshall
  • Women in public
  • Yearling

The 16 “Best Poetry Book” Year-End Lists Consulted