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From new voices to tested favourites, there’s a collection for everyone.

The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward

In The Terrible, Insta poet Yrsa Daley-Ward effortlessly blends prose and verse for a raw and honest coming-of-age story about losing yourself and finding your voice.

The Art of Falling by Kim Moore

This searing debut collection (by a sometime trumpet teacher) recently won the Geoffrey Faber Prize, which is a big-deal literary award in Kim Moore’s native Britain. The poems are wide-ranging in their subject matter, but the part of The Art of Falling that will stick with you has to do with domestic violence, which the 37-year-old wrote about from her own life experience. 

Heart Talk by Cleo Wade

“If people treat Heart Talk less like a book and more like a best friend, I would really like that,” Cleo Wade told the New York Times about her debut. And that’s a perfect encapsulation of empathetic activist Wade, whose book of poetry, advice and affirmations will make you feel exactly that. 

 

All We Saw by Anne Michaels

Anne Michaels is Toronto’s poet laureate, so it’s hardly a surprise that this, her sixth volume of poetry, is a master class in the art of the verse. Michaels lost two close pals (fellow poet Mark Strand and artist John Berger) in the years before writing these poems, and this collection is a mediation on grief and what it means to live life without a dear friend. 

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

At this point, Canadian Instapoet Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey is a classic. Touching on love, loss, abuse and femininity, Kaur’s 2014 debut is a raw exploration of pain and survival that will stick with you. The new clothbound edition is perfect for a gift—or if you just want to keep it close by. 

Whereas by Layli Long Soldier

Nominated for a National Book Award, Layli Long Soldier takes an unflinching look at the Native American experience (she is an Oglala Sioux) in her debut collection of poems, Whereas; more specifically, it's a sharp, lyrical response to the emptiness of official apologies for what the U.S. government did to her people. Reviews don't call it a "battle cry" for nothing.