Hi friends, I took over this Quest from the original curator (a poetry lit mag) and will lay out in this post the criteria & rationale for how I'll be adding additional books. You're welcome to comment a suggestion if it meets the criteria below.

If it doesn't meet the criteria but is a book a poetry you'd like to recommend, we will be releasing a feature soon where Quests will have a page of book recs that can be upvoted/downvoted. These are not part of the official Quest book list to earn a badge and will be similar to the "Community Recs" at the bottom of every book page. Once that feature exists, I will also look the most highly upvoted books there to consider for inclusion in the official book list.

First, a bit about my background to share the limits of my personal knowledge: I studied English Literature & Creative Writing, including completing a poetry thesis (writing poems, not researching them). I also taught a college course that focused heavily on quintessential New England poets for a term and myself prefer modern poetry. That said, I no longer read (or write) poetry regularly and would not consider myself well read in poetry.

Criteria & rationale for adding books to the Quest list

Since this is meant as an Intro to Poetry, and Main Quests are capped at 100 books so they stay curated, I will necessarily be strict about what books are added. Given the base of books already here, we will be sticking with modern poetry. The goal is to have a broad representation of voices and styles.

• If an author is already represented on this list, I will not be adding additional work from them since this is an intro list and focusing on breadth means sacrificing depth.
• I will prioritize poetry collections that have some element of critical acclaim (doesn't have to be award-winning, so popularity + good reviews also matter) to ensure that the Quest list is based on widely-appreciated work and not just one person's strong preference (poetry is so personal).

If you comment a recommendation, please help me by including your rationale for how it meets the criteria and goals above!

These essays have all been so interesting so far. For some reason, not necessarily what I expected in the more personal nature, but a range of queer perspectives and films selected, which is definitely a plus.

This is my first book from this author, and I'm blown away with her prose. It makes me feel like how I felt as a teen/college student, reading "real" literature where authors are just absolutely blowing my mind with the way they put words together. It's a lovely experience to feel that way again.