Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calendar of Dust | 1991 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
| 2 | Flowers for the Broken | 1992 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
| 3 | Dark and Perfect Angels | 1995 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
| 4 | Elegies in Blue | 2002 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
| 5 | Dreaming the End of War | 2006 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
| 6 | The Book of What Remains | 2010 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
| 7 | Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club | 2012 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
| 8 | The Last Cigarette on Earth | 2017 | Benjamin Alire Saenz | Buy |
Benjamin Alire Saenz has published eight poetry collections between 1991 and 2017, making poetry a steady part of his literary career alongside fiction. Calendar of Dust (1991) and Flowers for the Broken (1992) established his poetic voice early, with Calendar of Dust winning the American Book Award.
His later collections — Elegies in Blue, Dreaming the End of War, The Book of What Remains, and The Last Cigarette on Earth — continue exploring the border, loss, faith, and identity through verse. Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club (2012) won the PEN/Faulkner Award, though it straddles the line between poetry and short fiction. Saenz’s poetry shares the directness and emotional weight of his novels.