BY JOANNA C. VALENTE
This is a short list of books that have been published in 2016, by both large and indie presses. There are so many more amazing books out there that I either have yet to read, am still reading, or haven't had the pleasure of discovering.
I hope you let these draw you into their world. Maybe you'll even give them as gifts to others, and make their worlds bigger too:
1. “Blood Song” by Michael Schmeltzer (Two Sylvias Press)
2. “Theater of Parts” by M. Mack (Sundress Publications)
3. "The Voyager Record” by Anthony Michael Morena (Rose Metal Press)
4. "So Sad Today" by Melissa Broder (Grand Central Publishing)
5. "The Performance of Becoming Human" by Daniel Borzutzky (Brooklyn Arts Press)
6. "Dahlia Cassandra" by Nathanial Kressen (Second Skin Books)
7. "Blood on Blood" by Devin Kelly (Unknown Press)
8. "Falter Kingdom" by Michael J. Seidlinger (Unnamed Books)
9. “Fish in Exile” by Vi Khi Nao (Coffee House Press)
10. “Reel” by Tobias Carroll (Rare Bird Books)
11. “Patricide” by D. Foy (Stalking Horse Press)
12. Sad Girl Poems - Christopher Soto (Sibling Rivalry Press)
13. "Chelate" by Jay Besemer (Brooklyn Arts Press)
14. "Fire in the Sky" by E. Kristin Anderson (Grey Book Press)
15. "Take This Stallion" by Anaïs Duplan (Brooklyn Arts Press)
16. "Annihilation Songs" by Jason De Boer (Stalking Horse Press)
17. "Leaving Lucy Pear" by Anna Solomon (Viking)
18. "Dear Everyone" by Matt Shears (Brooklyn Arts Press)
19. "Lunch Portraits" by Debora Kuan (Brooklyn Arts Press)
20. "Night" by Etel Adnan (Nightboat Books)
21. "Being Human" by Julia Gari Weiss (Thought Catalog)
22. "Straight Away the Emptied World" by Leah Umansky (Kattywompus Press)
23. "Sing the Song" by Meredith Alling (Future Tense Books)
24. "Go Ask Alice" by Liz Axelrod (Finishing Line Press)
25. "The Birth Creatures" by Samantha Duncan (Agape Editions)
25. "Too Many Humans of New York" by Abigail Welhouse (Bottlecap Press)
26. "Angeltits" by Katie Longofono (Sundress Publications)
27. “The Fry Pans Aren’t Sufficing” by Peyton Burgess (Lavendar Ink Press)
28. "OOOO" by Erin Taylor (Bottlecap Press)
29. "Trébuchet" by Danniel Schoonebeek (University of Georgia Press)
30. "i can remember the meaning of every tarot card but i can’t remember what i texted you last night" by Elle Nash (Nostrovia Press)
RELATED: 40 BOOKS PUBLISHED IN 2015 THAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR SHELF
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (2016, ELJ Publications), & Xenos (2016, Agape Editions). She received her MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, as well as the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM. Some of her writing has appeared in Prelude, The Atlas Review, The Feminist Wire, BUST, Pouch, and elsewhere. She also teaches workshops at Brooklyn Poets.