Books like The Rest of Love by Carl Phillips

Richard Siken’s *Crush* is a collection of fiercely intimate poems that won the 2004 Yale Younger Poets prize and the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ poetry.

Ocean Vuong’s collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds blends precise, evocative language with lyrical sound, capturing intimate moments and the fleeting nature of life in a striking poetic voice.

A powerful memoir chronicling the bond between Ta-Nehisi Coates and his father, a Vietnam veteran and Black Panther activist, as he guides his sons through Baltimore’s crack‑ridden streets to Howard University.

Natasha Trethewey’s Poetic Reflection on Family and Race in America

In this ferocious and tender debut, Chen Chen investigates inherited forms of love and family--the strained relationship between a mother and son, the cost of necessary goodbyes--all from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives. Holding all accountable, this collection fully embraces the loss, grief, and abundant joy that come with charting one's own path in identity, life, and love. In the Hospital *My mother was in the hospital & everyone wanted to be my friend. But I was busy making a list: good dog, bad citizen, short skeleton, tall mocha. Typical Tuesday. My mother was in the hospital & no one wanted to be her friend. Everyone wanted to be soft cooing sympathies. Very reasonable pigeons. No one had the time & our solution to it was to buy shinier watches. We were enamored with what our wrists could declare. My mother was in the hospital & I didn't want to be her friend. Typical son. Tall latte, short tale, bad plot, great wifi in the atypical café. My mother was in the hospital & she didn't want to be her friend. She wanted to be the family grocery list. Low-fat yogurt, firm tofu. She didn't trust my father to be it. You always forget something, she said, even when I do the list for you. Even then.*

A powerful poetry collection that examines police violence, sexuality, and HIV through the lens of black, gay, and transgender experiences in America.

Carl Phillips’ eleventh book, Double Shadow, explores the dual forces of risk and faintheartedness in human life through a series of reflective poems that balance hope and haunting.

A bold exploration of pregnancy, childbirth, and artistic expression through verse, prose, and dialogue.

Elizabeth Alexander’s debut collection blends personal memory, cultural history, and portraits of figures like John Coltrane, Frida Kahlo and Nelson Mandela, exploring history, gender, and race with vivid lyricism.

A courageous collection of poems confronting codependency, sexuality, abuse, and emotional trauma, reflecting the author’s personal journey and broader contemporary concerns.

In the Reconstruction era, two orphan teenage girls, Mayme—once a slave—and Katie, safeguard their family’s plantation while fostering friendship and hope amid threats of foreclosure, theft, and danger. Their secret bond faces a hard‑nosed relative’s attempt to split them apart.

Natalie Diaz’s second collection, Postcolonial Love Poem, blends fierce desire with the enduring pain of indigenous experience, celebrating bodies, language, and love as acts of resistance and reclamation.

Carl Phillips’ sixth collection, Pastoral, weaves longing, desire, and spiritual longing into a contemplative exploration of the inner landscape, framed by pastoral tradition and lyrical rhythm.

A 132‑poem collection by Yusef Komunyakaa that blends blues‑inspired satire, African‑American cultural references, and lush nature imagery into concise, four‑line stanzas.

Anjail Rashida Ahmad's powerful exploration of African American women's heritage and pride in language and tradition.