Poetry Is Not a Luxury

From the creator of the beloved @PoetryIsNotaLuxury Instagram account, a gorgeously wrought poetry anthology that is a gift and a guide for readers through every season of life.

Inspired by writer and philosopher Audre Lorde’s famous claim 'Poetry is not a luxury', this anthology proves the vitality of poetry as a crucial source of inspiration, comfort and delight.

In the first section, Summer, you’ll find lush landscapes and love poems for weddings and anniversaries, alongside poems on travel, protest and expressions of sheer joy and exhilaration. Autumn ushers in nostalgic poems about home and family and friendship, fall leaves, nesting and gratitude. You may turn to Winter should you require a poem for mourning, some lyrics for loneliness or an ode to comfort. Rounding out a year’s worth of verse is Spring, in which you’ll discover celebratory poems, in the form of praise for rain and flowers, new beginnings and all that the future might hold.

Each poem within has been chosen from centuries of verse from around the world, with an emphasis on living poets. Friends old and new await, with selections from Rita Dove, Victoria Chang, Ross Gay, Naomi Shihab Nye, C.D. Wright, Eileen Myles, Ada Limón, Ilya Kaminsky, Jos Charles and more.

From love poems to elegies, from the heights of new love to the furrows of anxiety, from special occasions to a morning pick-me-up, there is something here for longtime poetry lovers and novices, in any season of need.

© 2025 Simon & Schuster Audio UK (Audiobook): 9781398548572

Release date

Audiobook: 6 May 2025