10 Books for Poetry Lovers | World Poetry Day

There can be no doubt that for those who love it, poetry feeds the soul and sustains the heart. This World Poetry Day, we’ve curated a list of some of the most powerful selections of poems by the greatest poets, along with books that will hone your literary prowess to assess good poetry.

A Poem a Day by Gulzar

A Poem a Day is a volume of Indian poetry like no other, selected and translated by Gulzar, one of India’s most renowned and respected poets. This prestigious volume showcases 365 memorable poems a poem for every day of the year written over the seven decades since Independence by some of the leading poets of the Indian Subcontinent.

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How to Read Poetry Like a Professor (Revised Edition) by Thomas C. Foster

At long last, bestselling author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster, delivers the essential primer to reading poetry like a professor that unlocks the keys to enjoying works from Lord Byron to the Beatles.

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Pluto by Gulzar

In Gulzar’s work, even the darkest moments are filled with light; hope never gives way to despair.Beautifully rendered into English by Nirupama Dutt – and including, for the first time in a volume of his poetry in English, a collection of the poet’s own sketches – this is a collection to savour and treasure.

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Uncle Tom’s Poems by Rabindranath Tagore

In 1913, Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he remains one of the most important voices of Bengali culture to this day. Tagore’s poetry continues to rise above geographic and cultural boundaries to capture the imaginations of readers around the world.

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The Water Babies by Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore’s treatment of caste culture, bureaucracy and poverty paint a vivid portrait of nineteenth-century India, and all are interwoven with Tagore’s perceptive eye for detail, strong sense of humanity and deep affinity for the natural world. His prowess as a poet is demonstrated in this selection of poetry.

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The HarperCollins Books of English Poetry by Sudeep Sen

Expertly edited by Sudeep Sen, this significant book is a must-have for literature and poetry lovers – an essential compendium for academics, students, librarians and interested lay readers who want to sample the vibrant cultural and intellectual milieu of India, at home and in the world.

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A Name for Every Leaf by Ashok Vajpeyi, translated by Rahul Soni

The poems in this selection capture the range of styles and concerns of one of Hindi’s most well-known writers. Chosen from a body of work spanning several decades, these are beautifully translated by Rahul Soni and introduced by poet Arundhathi Subramaniam.

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Nude by Vishal Bhardwaj

All of us know Vishal Bhardwaj as a film-maker. Here’s presenting him in a new avatar: a poet. Over the course of these twenty-five ghazals and an equal number of nazms, Vishal comes across as a poet with a distinctive voice and a style all his own.

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Selected Poems by Joy Goswami

This collection brings together, for the first time, poetry from three strikingly different phases of Joy Goswami’s formidable literary career — Surjo-Pora Chhai (Ashes, Burnt by the Sun, 1999), Moutat Moheshwar (Shiva, My High, 2005) and Du Dondo Phowara Matro (Merely a Spurt of Time, 2011). Selected and translated by Sampurna Chatterji

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After Death Comes Water by Joy Goswami

An essential collection of prose poetry from Joy Goswami, the most important poet writing in Bengali since Jibanananda Das. Selected and translated by Sampurna Chattarji, this book showcases the extraordinary range of the writer’s genius and inventiveness.

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