Penguin Poets books in order

Reading order

The Penguin Poets series has been one of the most important poetry imprints in American publishing since the 1960s, gathering voices from across the full range of American poetry into a consistent and recognizable format. The series includes work by poets as different as Diane di Prima, John Ashbery, Jim Carroll, and Anne Waldman, making it a broad survey of American poetic practice rather than a school or movement.

Volumes in the series range from selected poems by poets with decades of work to debut collections by newer voices. The sheer breadth of the catalog means that readers can use it as a guide through twentieth and twenty-first century American poetry, picking up individual volumes as interest dictates. Recent additions have brought in writers like Amber McBride alongside more established figures, keeping the series current and varied.