Read More Latam 2021: April – Poetry Anthology

April 2, 2021

This post is part of the #ReadMoreLatam2021 Challenge. Click here for more info.

The challenge for this month is to read a poetry anthology by a Latin American writer.

Because it’s National Poetry Month, duh!

I’ve been pretty explicit about the fact that reading poetry for pleasure isn’t really my thing, even though I’m actively working on a series of Latin American poetry round-ups. (You can find out more about that here.)

However, I do find that poetry is worth dabbling in every now and again, especially when you’re in a reading rut and need something to jolt you out of the malaise. Even just a poem or two sandwiched between back-to-back novels can really be refreshing.

Where to start though, in a world which seems so overwhelmingly saturated and (not always, but sometimes) impenetrable to newcomers?

As with anything literary, I’ve found that the trick to enjoying poetry is finding a poet whose rhythm you really enjoy…which doesn’t always equate to big-name poets with dozens of anthologies under their belts. And it can take some real trial and error.

For that reason, I first recommend taking a look at the poetry round-ups I’ve published so far to get a taste for different writers, style, themes, etc. You know the drill. Alternatively, you can pick a title at random from my list of recommendations below.

(As always, the recommendations include books I’ve read or simply books I want to read and review.)