A Century of Great American Poetry Books

This list was the basis of my Ph.D. comps in 2001. I wanted to look specifically at volumes of poetry I found thoughtfully constructed as objects in themselves, not merely collections. In some cases, it wasn't possible to find individual collections, so I looked for the collected or selected that contained the most material from the books that interested me.

 
  • 1914. Stein, Gertrude. Tender Buttons.
     
  • 1923. Loy, Mina. Lunar Baedeker (Paris).
  • 1923. Stevens, Wallace. Harmonium.
  • 1926. cummings, e.e. Is 5.
  • 1926. Lowell, Amy. What's O'Clock.
  • 1926. Parker, Dorothy. Enough Rope.
     
  • 1930. Eliot, T.S. The Wasteland and Other Poems.
  • 1935. Moore, Marianne. Selected Poems.
  • 1936. Stevens, Wallace. The Idea of Order.
     
  • 1946. Bishop, Elizabeth. North and South.
  • 1948. Pound, Ezra. Pisan Cantos.
  • 1948. Roethke, Theodore. The Lost Son and Other Poems.
  • 1949. Brooks, Gwendolyn. Annie Allen.
     
  • 1955. Ginsberg, Allen. Howl.
  • 1956. Lowell, Robert. Life Studies.
  • 1958. Williams, William Carlos. Patterson.
  • 1959. Hughes, Langston. Selected Poems.
  • 1959. Snodgrass, W.D. Heart's Needle.
     
  • 1961. Ginsberg, Allen. Kaddish.
  • 1961. H.D. Helen in Egypt.
  • 1962. Hayden, Robert. A Ballad of Remembrance.
  • 1962. Williams, William Carlos. Pictures from Brueghel.
  • 1964. O'Hara, Frank. Lunch Poems.
  • 1965. Berryman, John. 77 Dream Songs.
  • 1965. Bishop, Elizabeth. Questions of Travel.
  • 1965. Plath, Sylvia. Ariel.
  • 1966. Sexton, Anne. Live or Die.
  • 1968. Bogan, Louise. Blue Estuaries.
  • 1968. Brooks, Gwendolyn. In the Mecca.
  • 1969. Sexton, Anne. Love Poems.
     
  • 1970. Harper, Michael. Dear John, Dear Coltrane.
  • 1971. Sexton, Anne. Transformations.
  • 1973. H.D. Trilogy.
  • 1973. Rich, Adrienne. Diving Into the Wreck.
  • 1974. Snyder, Gary. Turtle Island.
  • 1975. Ashberry, John. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror.
  • 1975. Gluck, Louise. House on the Marshland.
  • 1975. Levertov, Denise. The Freeing of the Dust.
  • 1976. Bishop, Elizabeth. Geography III.
  • 1976. Momaday, N. Scott. Gourd Dancer, The.
  • 1977. Broumas, Olga. Beginning with O.
  • 1977. Shange, Ntozake. For Colored Girls.
  • 1978. Grahn, Judy. Work of a Common Woman.
  • 1979. Harryman, Carla. Percentage.
  • 1979. Oliver, Mary. Twelve Moons.
  • 1979. Perelman, Bob. a.k.a.
  • 1979. Pinsky, Robert. An Explanation of America.
     
  • 1980. Hejinian, Lyn. My Life.
  • 1980. Levine, Philip. They Feed They Lion.
  • 1980. Olds, Sharon. Satan Says.
  • 1981. Ashberry, John. Shadow Train.
  • 1981. Darragh, Tina. On the Corner to Off the Corner.
  • 1981. Forche, Carolyn. The Country Between Us.
  • 1982. Levertov, Denise. Candles in Babylon.
  • 1982. Merrill, James. The Changing Light at Sandover.
  • 1982. Weiner, Hannah. Code Poems.
  • 1983. Harjo, Joy. She Had Some Horses.
  • 1984. Kizer, Carolyn. Yin.
  • 1985. Jordan, June. Living Room.
  • 1985. Rose, Wendy. The Halfbreed Chronicles.
  • 1986. Dove, Rita. Thomas and Beulah.
  • 1986. Knight, Etheridge. The Essential Etheridge Knight.
  • 1987. Baraka, Amiri. Reggae or Not.
  • 1987. Bernstein, Charles. Sophist, The.
  • 1987. Graham, Jorie. The End of Beauty.
  • 1988. Chrystos. Not Vanishing.
  • 1988. Komonyakka, Yusef. Dien Cau Dau (Neon Vernacular).
  • 1989. Baca, Jimmy Santiago. Black Mesa Poems.
     
  • 1991. Rich, Adrienne. An Atlas to the Difficult World.
  • 1992. Ortiz, Simon. Woven Stone.
  • 1992. Rukeyser, Muriel. Out of Silence: Selected Poems.
  • 1992. Young Bear, Ray. Black Eagle Child.
  • 1993. Alexi, Sherman. First Indian on the moon.
  • 1993. Hogan, Linda. The Book of Medicines.
  • 1993. Clifton, Lucille The Book of Light.
  • 1993. Howe, Susan. The Non-conformist's Memorial.
  • 1993. Komonyakka, Yusef. Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems.
  • 1994. Cisneros. Sandra. Loose Woman.
  • 1994. Harjo, Joy. Woman Who Fell from the Sky.
  • 1994. McHugh, Heather. Hinge and Sign.
  • 1994. Rose, Wendy. Bone Dance: New and Selected Poems.
  • 1994. Waldeman, Anne. Kill or Cure.
  • 1995. Louis, Adrian. Vortex of Indian Fevers.
  • 1995. Olds, Sharon. The Wellspring.
  • 1996. Espada. Martin. Imagine the Angels of Bread.
  • 1996. Ostriker, Alicia. The Crack in Everything.
  • 1996. Troupe, Quincy. Avalanche.
  • 1997. Cruz, Victor Hernandez. Panoramas.
  • 1997. Mora, Pat. Aunt Carmen's Book of Practical Saints.
  • 1997. Strickland, Stephanie. True North.
  • 1998. Carson, Ann. Autobiography of Red.
  • 1998. Doty, Mark. Sweet Machine.
  • 1998 .Watten, Barrett. Bad History.
  • 1999. Ai. Vice: New and Selected Poems.
  • 1999. Osman, Jenna. The Character.
  • 1999. Sanchez, Sonia. Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems.
     
  • 2000. Harjo, Joy. A Map to the Next World.
  • 2000. Alexie, Sherman. One Stick Song.