Task 20: Read a book of nature poems

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 20th Read Harder task.

[Katie]

Currently I have planned to read New and Selected Poems, Volume One. When I was searching her work sounded fantastic.

[Gina]

Does anyone have recommendations for books by BIPOC authors? So far I'm thinking of Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, edited by Camille T. Dungy.

[Elizabeth]

I'm thinking of Nature Poem by Tommy Pico. After reading IRL last year I'm interested in reading more.

[Virginia Reads the World]

I'm going to read A Thousand Mornings for this one. Not POC, but lovely poems nonetheless.

[Tanu]

Gina wrote: "Does anyone have recommendations for books by BIPOC authors? So far I'm thinking of Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, edited by Camille T. Dungy..."</i>

[author:Shiki Masaoka, Issa Kobayashi, Bashô Matsuo, possibly?

[Bobby]

Gina wrote: "Does anyone have recommendations for books by BIPOC authors? So far I'm thinking of Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, edited by Camille T. Dungy..."

Richard Wright (author of Native Son and Black Boy) wrote thousands of haiku, many of which are collected in Haiku: This Other World.

[Bobby]

I'm considering Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, but my library also has several other titles that look interesting:

Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, edited by Camille T. Dungy

Poems for a Small Planet: Contemporary American Nature Poetry, edited by Jay Parini and Robert Pack

Haiku: This Other World, by Richard Wright

Poetry for the Earth, edited by Sara Dunn, with Alan Scholefield

The Sphere of Birds, by Ciaran Berry

A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems, 1979-1997, by Wendell Berry

Urban Nature: Poems About Wildlife in the City, edited by Laure-Anne Bosselaar

American Flamingo, by Greg Pape

[Rachel]

Gina wrote: "Does anyone have recommendations for books by BIPOC authors?

I found a poetry collection called Bestiary: Poems by Donika Kelly, a woman of colour. The description says:
Across this remarkable first book are encounters with animals, legendary beasts, and mythological monsters–half human and half something else. Donika Kelly’s Bestiary is a catalogue of creatures–from the whale and ostrich to the pegasus and chimera to the centaur and griffin. Among them too are poems of love, self-discovery, and travel, from “Out West” to “Back East.” Lurking in the middle of this powerful and multifaceted collection is a wrenching sequence that wonders just who or what is the real monster inside this life of survival and reflection. Selected and with an introduction by the National Book Award winner Nikky Finney, Bestiary questions what makes us human, what makes us whole.

[Kass]

Does anyone know if World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil counts?

[The Bookish Austin]

Kassidy wrote: "Does anyone know if World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil counts?"

I've read this one - it's more a collection of essays than poetry. I know she's known primarily as a poet but this one would be branching out for her stylistically (in my opinion). It's a great book though and I definitely recommend it - just don't think it would fit this prompt as "poetry".

[Kass]

The Bookish Austin wrote: "Kassidy wrote: "Does anyone know if World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil counts?"

I've read this one - it's more..."

Thanks! The search continues then lol

[Sara]

I'd highly recommend Ada Limón. Her work is heavily influenced by nature so I think it would count. I read this year, and I'll probably do or for this challenge.

[Emerging]

Katie wrote: "Currently I have planned to read New and Selected Poems, Volume One. When I was searching her work sounded fantastic.
"
Highly recommend Mary Oliver... yes!

[Rachel]

Excited to check out The Lost Words for this one.

[James]

The new Nobel laureate Louise Gluck's The Wild Iris is about garden plants. It is also included in the volume Poems 1962-2012

[Rebecca]

I'm going with a classic: The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged.

[Teresa]

The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies

[Rachel]

I've chosen Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney. Most of the collection is about rural life, which for me is close enough to fit the prompt.

I'm not a big poetry reader, and while I was looking at possibilities for this category, I found some anthologies which could be useful here. They also seem good for younger readers, if anyone's doing the challenge with other family members.

A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year
A Nature Poem for Every Night of the Year
I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree A Poem for Every Day of the Year

[Christina]

Joy Harjo is the Poet Laureate of The United States and N. Scott Momaday is a Pulitzer Prize winner. American Treasures

An American Sunrise
She Had Some Horses

Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American
Land
The Death of Sitting Bear: New and Selected Poems

[Mandie]

Christina wrote: "Joy Harjo is the Poet Laureate of The United States and N. Scott Momaday is a Pulitzer Prize winner. American Treasures

An American Sunrise
She Had Some Horses

[book:..."

Just reading over the descriptions of these in realm of the prompt, I wouldn't think either of Joy Harjo's would fit. They are more on the social justice of Native life than nature. Just need to be careful of not stereotyping all Native works of being nature-related.

However, N. Scott Momaday's Earth Keeper looks fantastic.

[[deleted user]]

unless someone is going to tell me i can't because there's also prose, i think i will read Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature

[Teresa]

Considering a Wendell Berry or Mary Oliver for this one. Poetry is out of my comfort zone for reading but the poems of theirs I’ve read so far I’ve loved. Berry is a Christian and I appreciate his insights into my faith too.

[[deleted user]]

Elizabeth wrote: "I'm thinking of Nature Poem by Tommy Pico. After reading IRL last year I'm interested in reading more."
Thank you for this suggestion! I don't think of myself as someone who enjoys poetry but this sounds like something I would enjoy!

[Bonnie G.]

Shoshana wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I'm thinking of Nature Poem by Tommy Pico. After reading IRL last year I'm interested in reading more."
Thank you for this suggestion! I don't thin..."

Nature Poem is great, and I recommend it, but it doesn't fit. It is an anti-nature poem. Actually it's a condemnation of white people who assume that Native people are always interested in or connected to nature.

[Laura]

I’m not much of a poetry reader and even less so when I’m the subject is nature. Anyone have a short volume of nature
poems to recommend?

[Keegan]

Would anyone consider either of Rupi Kaur's books a collection of nature poems?

[Kayleigh]

Would an anthology of poems work? I am interested in Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds but it is a collection of poems by various authors. I really love birds, haha.

[Kathryn]

Kayleigh wrote: "Would an anthology of poems work? I am interested in Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds but it is a collection of poems by various authors. I really love bir..."

I'm reading that one too! I think it fits just fine.

[Elizabeth]

Bonnie G. wrote: "Shoshana wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I'm thinking of Nature Poem by Tommy Pico. After reading IRL last year I'm interested in reading more."
Thank you for this suggest..."

Ah, I guess my definition of nature poem was a little off/different? I was thinking the fact that it was confronting the colonial preconceptions people have as it falling under the umbrella of the "nature" prompt. I'm not a big poetry reader unfortunately.

I'll probably read it anyway, but based on a friend's rec I'll read New and Selected Poems, Volume Two by Mary Oliver.

[Elizabeth]

If you're looking for nature poetry that's more about the damage we as humans are doing to the natural world, I recently read Forage by Rita Wong, and she deals with a lot of environmentalist themes in it.

I won't be counting it for myself because I started it in the last couple days of 2020 and finished it at the very beginning of 2021, but I figured I'd mention it here for interested parties.

[Book Riot]

Morning, readers! Don't know about you, but some soothing nature poems sound pretty great right now. Here are our picks! https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021...

[Donya]

Keegan wrote: "Would anyone consider either of Rupi Kaur's books a collection of nature poems?"

I have Milk and Honey by her and would not consider that one for this. It is about abuse and trauma and eventual healing from it. The sun and her flowers is also not "about" nature but uses metaphors of nature so do with that what you will.

[Storm]

I read In the Dark, Soft Earth for this prompt

[doreneemi]

I'm planning to read Tiger Girl by Pascale Petit for this and even though I'm not usually a poetry reader, I think it sounds really good.

[Lindsay]

I'm excited to be reading The Poetry of Eyvind Earle. You might recognize his famous art work, notorious for paintings of trees seen in the lush hills of Northern California. For tree lovers like myself, his poetry brings voice to the flutter and warmth in my heart as I admire the the stoic beauty of trees of all kind.

[Gw]

This one really threw me off as well. I do not like poetry. The thought of reading a whole book of it🤢. I started to choose the one with the least pages like I did with the food memoirs. Then THE LOST WORDS caught my eye. It actually looks interesting. I chose that one.

[Diane]

Laura wrote: "I’m not much of a poetry reader and even less so when I’m the subject is nature. Anyone have a short volume of nature
poems to recommend?"

I have enjoyed lots of children's poetry books about nature. You might check out some books by Joyce Sidman, Valerie Worth, and David Elliott. Your local library will probably have copies, so you can enjoy the illustrations too.

[Octavia]

I read Urban Nature: Poems About Wildlife in the City, edited by Laure-Anne Bosselaar for this. I enjoyed it, poems about pigeons and road kill and all. "Dead Armadillos" by Gail White was my favourite, I think. (It's less grim than it sounds.)

[Cat]

I read Terrapin: Poems by Wendell Berry and I think several of his books would also fit this challenge.

[Jason]

I read and loved The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris. Such a beautiful book that seeks to poetically invoke words from nature that have been "lost" from the vocabulary of children by being removed from dictionaries or by just becoming rare to our modern language. Visual both literally and figuratively; I loved it and my daughters loved it.

[Rachel]

Jason wrote: "I read and loved The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris. Such a beautiful book that seeks to poetically invoke words from nature that have been "lost" from the vocabul..."

I read this one, the physical copy of the book is huge though!, but very beautiful.

[Rachel]

Gw wrote: "This one really threw me off as well. I do not like poetry. The thought of reading a whole book of it🤢. I started to choose the one with the least pages like I did with the food memoirs. Then THE L..."

Yeah I completely agree, I am not a poetry fan but I read The Lost Words, physical copy is huge!

[A]

The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses is definitely a little dated. It was neat to read from a 1907 printing of this work (first year printed in the US).

[Ashley]

I am new to reading poetry so I looked at the Book Riot's suggestions. I just picked up "Wild Embers" by Nikita Gill today. The topic is surrounding human nature rather than actual nature but I still think it counts! I just started it but it's beautiful.

[Nicole]

I love reading poetry to my kids at bedtime. While my go-to is usually Shel Silverstein, I read and loved Hawks Kettle Puffins Wheel by Susan Vande Griek.

[Karen]

I am reading The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa collected and with commentary by Robert Hass. Thanks to previous posters telling me about Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright, as well.

I have The Wild Iris by Louise Glück on the shelf, too.

[Sherri]

I used An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo.

[Heather]

I just finished Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude and just loved it! This brief collection is by a black poet and was a joy to read.

[Kass]

I read Oceanic by Aimee Nezkumatathil for this prompt. It's mostly poems about her life but with heavy use of nature metaphors. It mostly wasn't for me but I know others would enjoy it. The poems are quick and the whole thing is only 80 pages