Felon tells the story of the effects of incarceration in fierce, dazzling poems--canvassing a wide range of emotions and experiences through homelessness, underemployment, love, drug abuse, domestic violence, fatherhood, and grace--and, in doing so, creates a travelogue for an imagined life. Reginald Dwayne Betts confronts the funk of postincarceration existence and examines prison not as a static space, but as a force that enacts pressure throughout...
From the spellbinding elegance of National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s recent spoken-word performances to Instagram poet Kate Baer’s bestselling debut collection, poetry is definitely having a moment. Here we spotlight fresh new voices in verse.