This April is National Poetry Month, an opportunity to look closer at the work of both contemporary and historic poets, as well as the critical analysis of that work. Syracuse University Press has a long history publishing poetry from around the world and, to celebrate National Poetry Month, we are offering 40% off of all of our poetry books. Take a look at some of the selections from the sale below.
An expansive bilingual anthology, Tracing the Ether showcases twenty-six acclaimed Saudi poets who are reimagining their place in our interconnected, digital world. Breaking away from the traditional focus on pre-Islamic Arabian poetry, this collection presents sixty-two contemporary poems that engage boldly with modernity, cyberspace, and globalization. These award-winning poets employ innovative forms and speculative frameworks to explore how social media and digital culture are reshaping notions of home, identity, and cultural boundaries. Their work demonstrates that far from merely imitating Western models, Saudi poets are crafting distinctive voices that speak to universal human experiences while remaining grounded in their cultural context.
The Dead Tree Garden presents a profoundly evocative poetic landscape in which themes of memory, motherhood, and mortality are intricately interwoven. Lisa M. Dougherty employs a voice that is at once tender and uncompromising, cultivating a body of work rooted in grief and resilience. Each poem functions as a contemplative exploration of the subtle devastations and unexpected beauty embedded within quotidian experience. Her imagery, marked by its tactile immediacy and emotional rawness, offers readers a fragmented yet cohesive mosaic of lived experience—one that is simultaneously intimate and broadly relatable.
Oceanic Connections is a first-of-its-kind comparative study of Anglophone Irish and Caribbean poets who write widely about the sea, revealing the similarities across the poetic traditions of both regions. In turning to the sea, Ellen Howley applies a Blue Humanities lens to the work of major poets from Ireland and the Anglophone Caribbean, such as Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Seamus Heaney, and Medbh McGuckian. She demonstrates how the sea is more than a backdrop or metaphor—it is a generative space of creative and historical meaning. Through careful analysis, Howley shows how poets from these geographically distant but culturally resonant regions engage with the ocean’s material realities and mythic depths.
The Pulse of Contemporary Turkish offers a unique glimpse into the vibrant world of Turkish poetry, featuring 172 poems by more than 60 poets, most of whom are still active today. From neo-lyrical verses to avant-garde experiments, this anthology reflects the rich tapestry of voices emerging from Turkey’s literary scene. With a balanced representation of gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity, this collection brings together works from poets associated with 25 different publishing houses, including both major literary institutions and smaller presses nurturing fresh talent. Oxford Turkologist Laurent Mignon provides the foreword, complemented by two introductory essays that contextualize the sociopolitical climate and literary trends shaping Turkish poetry in the new millennium and highlight key events, journals, and manifestos that have influenced the art form.