A New Land: 30 Groundbreaking Poems by Youth Poets

Everyone would like to have an introduction by Amanda Gorman. Her inaugural poem, so brilliantly conceived and presented, really upped the enthusiasm for poetry on January 20, 2021. (I received dozens of emails asking if I knew her personal email address. I do not. I wrote her a fan letter on her website like everyone else could do.) So Gorman’s vote for this marvelous collection of work by young writers is a great vote indeed. I also note her comment that she “finds it ridiculous when poets are automatically waved aside as ‘aspiring’ or ‘emerging’ due to their age.” I couldn’t agree more. Many would say that child poets are the greatest poets. Stuart Kestenbaum, poet laureate of Maine, described this collection by “remarkable writers … full of rich language and moving detail” as helping him feel like a “traveler, seeing places for the first time.”

The poems are long and vibrant, well-lit by strong art and graphic elements. In three sections—“When We Began,” “Where We Are Now,” and “Who We Are Becoming”—the many modes of living are cupped and examined closely. Can’t travel due to Covid? Read poems that carry you easily and deeply into other real worlds, including difficult ones—violence, early pregnancy, prejudice—that matter to teens. This anthology is strongly recommended for all teachers of creative writing, especially at the high school level. You will find sustenance to share in every poem. And here’s a vote for the whole Telling Room initiative too. Molly McGrath, publications director, writes that this “leader in youth publishing has published more than 175 award-winning books and more than 3,500 authors and that more than 40,000 Telling Room books are in circulation.” Endorsed by the governor of Maine and the Maine Department of Education, this book went out to every high school (count, 224) in Maine. Here’s to sharing the voices!