by the Read Write Poem Staff

Welcome to Off the Shelf, another one of our occasional columns here at Read Write Poem. In this column, we’ll share the latest five books Read Write Poem members have read or are currently reading.

For this installment, we’ve asked Niina Pollari to share her latest reads, along with a brief comment on each collection. Here’s what she had to say. (And to be fair, we posed this question to her more than a month ago, so who knows what she’s actually reading now!)

Have you read any of the collections or authors on Niina’s list? If so, share, share, share in the comments. If not, Niina says, “Seek them out if you haven’t. They’re totally worth it.”

Rising, by Farrah Field

The only book I’ve repurchased twice for two separate friends. This book gets called “Southern” because it has a very heavy sense of place, though I think the word “Southern” as a descriptive doesn’t get at the book’s crux. Really, neither can I in a couple short sentences. But it’s full-blooded, emotional and really beautifully written.

Stranger, by Laura Sims

Poems both terse and raw. They’re rather like blurry close-ups of the most beautiful kind.

Poemland, by Chelsey Minnis

Minnis is the kind of writer who makes me laugh and feel uncomfortable at the same time. Let me just quote the book to explain: “It’s like drinking a bottle of champagne in a roadside bathroom.”

Hallelujah Blackout, by Alex Lemon

Lemon’s second book. In this book, he abandons the crystal-sharp, cool distance that inhabited the poems of his first book, Mosquito, and proceeds to shake around a little.

A Plate of Chicken, by Matthew Rohrer

A kind of philosophy of the everyday, acutely aware of its own domesticity. Also worth noting that the book is really enjoyable to hold; Ugly Duckling Presse makes these gorgeous letterpress projects, and Rohrer’s book, complete with illustrations, is no exception. It’s proof that print will never die — book fetishists like us won’t let it.

If you want to share your latest five reads, send an email with your titles and comments for each book to info (at) readwritepoem (dot) org.