I wrote a few weeks back that Ceiling of Sticks by Shane Book is the first ever pick for The Rumpus Poetry Book Club (yay!) I’m sure that poetry-loving readers of this blog have already joined the club, but if not, this post, which appeared on The Rumpus last week, explaining why Ceiling of Sticks was chosen, ought to convince you. 

Truly pan-national in its focus, these poems draw on a broader array of experiences than an ESL classroom near a meat packing plant.  As are several of the collection’s poems, the book’s title is inspired by a gorgeous and evocative Sebastião Salgado image.  It suggests the flimsy but consistently ambitious devices we construct to protect our heads and our hearts. The book is by turns heart breaking and heartening, and its lines just sing, Camille T. Dungy writes. Indeed, it’s a beautiful book. Need more convincing? Read one of Shane’s poems.

http://www.fishousepoems.org/archives/shane_book/stark_room.shtml

In other news (this also courtesy of The Rumpus), this week is Hemingway week.  Did you know Hemingway also wrote poetry?  The University of Nebraska Press published a book of his poems back in 1983. He may not be nearly as well known for his poems as for his prose, but for any serious Hemingway fan, this collection is definitely worth reading.