Every year, UNESCO hosts World Poetry Day to honour poets from around the globe and celebrate the act of reading, writing, and teaching poetry.
This year, it will take place on 21 March 2025 and offers the perfect opportunity for you to refamiliarise yourself with the classics or discover a new favourite poem.
From internationally recognised names to dazzling newcomers, read on to discover 10 beautiful poetry books to add to your collection.
1. The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin remains one of England’s best-loved poets, and The Whitsun Weddings was his first and most famous collection, originally published in 1967.
His ability to write clearly and bluntly about his opinions on love, life, and the country he grew up in is the reason he was commemorated in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey after his death.
This collection contains some of his most famous poems, such as An Arundel Tomb and Mr Bleaney.
2. Goodlord by Ella Frears
This unique poetry book is written as one long email between our narrator and her estate agent. This fictional memoir questions our fundamental need for “property” and explores all the places we can call home in a collection that is as funny as it is harrowing.
This breathless and hilarious exploration of the annoyances of modern life was a Guardian Book of the Year and was shortlisted for The Forward Prize in 2024.
3. Devotions by Mary Oliver
Devotions is considered the definitive collection of over 50 years of Mary Oliver’s writing and was arranged by the poet herself before her death.
Containing more than 200 poems from her very first publication in 1963 up to her most recent book in 2015, it showcases her passionate and much-treasured observations on life and the natural world.
4. AGIMAT by Romalyn Ante
Some Filipino parents pass down an “agimat”, or amulet, to their children in the hope that its magic will protect and empower them.
In her collection, Ante explores the idea of what it means to fight and what it takes to heal as she writes about her experiences as a nurse on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic, interwoven with Philippine myths.
5. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
This iconic collection is made up of 10 letters written by the Bohemian-Austrian poet Rilke to a 19-year-old officer cadet who was seeking advice about his own writing.
These letters offer a fascinating insight into Rilke’s writing process and how he perceived the world, which remains poignant nearly a century later. The young cadet first published them in 1929 – three years after Rilke’s death.
6. Monster by Dzifa Benson
Monster is a gorgeous poetry collection that explores and subverts historical narratives of Blackness, drawing from Benson’s own experiences as a Black woman who was born in London but raised in Ghana, as well as famous figures such as Sarah Baartman.
This amazing debut poetry collection cemented Benson as a poet to keep an eye on, especially after it was named one of the Guardian’s best poetry books of 2024.
7. The Road Not Taken and Other Poems by Robert Frost
Robert Frost was one of America’s most popular 20th century poets, and The Road Not Taken is perhaps one of his most recognisable works.
This collection, originally published in 1916 under the title Mountain Interval, showcases Frost’s incredible ability to fashion beautiful poetry out of everyday incidents and rural imagery that remains beloved to this day.
8. God Complex by Rachael Allen
God Complex is a sweeping epic poem which tells the story of a relationship breaking down as the environment collapses with it.
Allen’s unnerving ability to convey the desperation of her narrator’s worries and fears as her partner drifts away from her creates a much more personal and private depiction of loss than her previous collection, Kingdomland.
This stunning expression of grief and humanity’s relationship with nature was longlisted for the Laurel Prize in 2024.
9. The Complete Poetry by Maya Angelou
From her reflections on African American life and hardship to her revolutionary celebrations of womanhood, this book brings together every word of Maya Angelou’s published poetry.
Containing much-beloved poems such as Still I Rise and Caged Bird, this collection is the perfect place to read the best writings of the iconic memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist, whether you are experiencing them for the first time or are a long-time fan of her work.
10. Why Are You Shouting? by James Womack
Womack’s fourth collection considers two things: our struggle as individuals to find connections between ourselves and others, and the efforts we make to connect to the environment we live and die in.
Written in the pandemic years and keenly aware of the threat of the climate crisis hanging over us, Why Are You Shouting? invites us to discuss the chaos and disruption of society as we know it with a sense of humour and kindness, no matter how hopeless everything seems.
