Here is the August edition of The Poetry Shelf, our suggested poetry assortment, compiled by Michelle Halket of Central Avenue Publishing.
Welcome to the August edition of The Poetry Shelf!
I'll be keeping this edition short because the entire Bookscan bestseller list is FULL of versions of The Odyssey, The Iliad, and various other classics. It's probably due to the perfect coinciding of the movie and stocking up on back-to-school textbooks, but whatever the reason, I think this is the fewest number of new books I've ever seen on the list.
As with last month, I say just pick your favorite Homer editions and showcase those. But I'm betting a bunch of you have already cross-merchandised your preferred retellings with your Odyssey displays. If I had a bookstore, I'd be putting up my faves: Circe by Madeline Miller, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, and any editions of Norse, Indian, or Indigenous mythology I could find. As a kid I was a HUGE mythology fan, so this might be my most fun display I could put together. It's probably why my most fave series I've published is one that retells the Greek gods reincarnated as college kids. Ah--the joys of running your own press: you get to publish what you want! ☺️
Again, I wish I could list a bunch of new additions to the poetry bestsellers but I can't--it's just too gummed up with Homer! But I do notice a few older titles popping back on and rising including: Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey, Maya Angelou's Complete Poetry, Inward by Yung Pueblo, and The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy.
For the feature, given how early in the month I am (I'm now back on my regular schedule of the first Friday of every month), I've kept it the same as last month: Back to School. I'll just reiterate what I wrote last month, where I chose to show off titles that would be ideal for Back to School displays. I chose these because of how diverse they are and generally how much these poets are taught and/or talked about. There's poet laureates (Sze) and more accessible poetry (Gorman) as well as books that might tie in well to history (Trethewey) or sociology (Choi) courses.
As always, everything I put on these lists are just suggestions meant to spark ideas of your own. Pick and choose as best fits your store!