dipity's 2025 Summer Reading List
wicked awesome poetry collections that you should def check out
P.S. Due to the list length, this email may get truncated at the bottom of your email inbox, so be sure to view it in full via Substack to get the entire 18+ book recs list. All book covers are linked to at least one online shop location to pick up a copy, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Etsy, etc. I’ll tack on a brief update at the end as well.
I’m sharing this book recs list here, as not everyone uses social media. Additionally, I’m super behind on catching up to my own “to-read lists,” especially books discovered via Instagram from last year and from our past Dipity Lit Mag issue and podcast features, which is why these are not all 2025 poetry collection releases below.
Here they are:
Amore Fatigue by Ryan Morrow
"Love is a gamble, and the house always wins" 168 pages of poetry and prose by Ryan Morrow. Take a trip through the rise, decline, and fall of true love. If you don't feel something after reading this, you might want to check your pulse.
Hope in the Black Hole: Poems to Guide You Home by R.K. Gandhi
A collection of poems inspired to help others find themselves in an increasingly lonely yet busy world. Words that will highlight concepts of spirituality and space, and how they intertwine in our lives in profound ways. A cosmic tale through poetry that ultimately leaves one with a message of hope in the depths of despair and darkness.
Blue Rose by Kait Quinn
Blue Rose, a poetic homage to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, echos the show’s enigmatic charm and mystery to reveal a world where truth is a prism, shadows dance with light, and nothing is as it seems. At the center of this collection lies the complex figure of Laura Palmer, whose intricate relationships and mysterious life and death are beautifully unraveled through evocative verse.
Finding Home by Rhys Campbell
Finding Home is a beautiful collection of poetry that is the culmination of transformation after a devastating loss. There is a familiarity and nostalgia to his words that will certainly stay with you long after reading them.
Portrait of the Artist as a Brown Man by Jose Hernandez Diaz
The collection opens with odes to everyday images and symbols of the Latinx community. In an age of elevated racism, these odes seek to celebrate Latinx culture in the face of constant scapegoating, ridicule, and surveillance. Also, this collection explores surreal prose poetry both in the suburbs and barrios of Los Angeles and the larger American landscape.
TRUCE by Prudence Brooks
TRUCE is more than just a poetry collection about the poet’s marriage, from her first date with her husband to the present day. TRUCE dives into the slime and muck of love, including the dreaded conversation that every couple wants to avoid: jealousy. But more than that, it is a reckoning with the poet’s notions of attachment and trust while existing in a traumatized, disabled body. Ultimately, TRUCE is a poetry collection about neglect, intimacy, resentment, and repair.
In This Macrocosm There Is A Rose by Fin Rose Aborizk
Love and heartbreak often go hand in hand, but what happens when you experience the pain of rejection, of being let go of? What happens when you unexpectedly find love knocking at your door again? Can you step into it? The macrocosm that makes up our reality places a rose in our hands, for us to discover the journey it holds.
Let your heart get broken open, then fall in love.
The Darkened Streets by Miriam H. Monarres
The Darkened Streets is a poetry collection by poet Miriam H. Monarres that features over 60 poems in both free-verse and traditional forms. Complementing the poetry are more than 15 sketched photographs taken by the author.
Seasons of My Being by Dan Roberts
Seasons of My Being is the second poetry book by Dan Roberts and the first in the My Being trilogy. It presents a chronological perspective towards the many seasons encountered during the year as the author navigates their personal feelings towards the elements at bay, demonstrating how they have helped heal as well as guide him along his life's journey.
Zoo by Christian Ward
Zoo is an engaging collection of surreal nature poetry from prize winning poet Christian Ward. From the humble mussel to moths and tigers, there is something for everyone in this collection.
Not Quite an Ocean by Elizabeth M. Castillo
Not Quite an Ocean by Elizabeth M. Castillo is a paean to the feminine, to motherhood and to the natural world. At once these poems are both unabashed in their celebration of womanhood, and are searing in their unflinching confrontation with darker undercurrents that threaten to break and destroy.
The Muse is Awake by Andrea Aldrete
The Muse is Awake is a collection of prose and poetry that sings, dances and dreams within the lines. It’s the bittersweetness of nostalgia, the endless waves of grief and addiction, the powerful tug and pull of motherhood, and perhaps the greatest of all, love.
Good Girl and Other Yearnings by Isabelle Correa
From "Quantum Mechanics And You" to "Little Red Riding Hood Buys A 6-Pack After EMDR," these poems turn the confessional genre on its head. Correa's debut full-length collection explores how trauma shakes the foundations of identity, and how healing happens on every level: atomic, corporeal, corporate, and cosmic.
Frayed Edges by Tor Rose
Within these pages, readers will explore the psychological burdens that accompany personal growth, the yearning for a meaningful existence, and a sardonic perspective that occasionally offers respite from life's bleakness. In a world that emphasizes perfection, Frayed Edges is a poignant reminder to embrace the flaws that define our individuality.
Forgotten Embers by Gregory Patrick
Forgotten Embers is a raw and evocative collection that explores the aftermath of love lost, memories clinging like smoke, and the quiet ache of solitude. Set against the backdrop of Dublin's somber streets, Gregory Patrick’s poetry captures the visceral intimacy of heartbreak and the unrelenting pulse of longing.
Bloom by Ally Loyns
Bloom is the sequel to the poetic compilation A Generation of Sunflowers. Divided into four parts—Stigma, Sepal, Stem, and Roots—this collection seamlessly weaves together the tapestry of one's being and keeps the conversation about mental health going; no censorship, only genuine, raw emotion.
The Rise and Fall of Rhymes and Rhythms by Yewande Akinse
The Rise and Fall of Rhymes and Rhythms is a poignant anthology of one hundred verses, each a tender testament to a mother’s unwavering love for her child. Crafted in the elegant form of a dizain (ten lines, each a melodic ten syllables) these poems dance on the delicate edge where poetry meets music, weaving a tapestry of emotion that resonates with the heart. Through the ebb and flow of rhyme and rhythm, the collection captures the profound journey of nurturing, geneaology, and the enduring bond that transcends time.
Breath by Breath: Poems for Anxious Minds by Madison Barclay
In Breath by Breath: Poems for Anxious Minds, Madison Barclay provides a haven of solace and understanding for those grappling with anxiety. Through evocative and soothing verses, Barclay creates a space where readers can find comfort and strength amid their worries.
dipty.press chapbooks
Lastly, be sure to check out the dipity. press chapbooks, no. 1-3 in the series and no. 4 Urban Enigmas by Patrick ten Brink will be released early this summer, estimated between June and July, which will be shared very soon. And our first micro-chapbook is under construction too.
Outside of dipity.press, we are also inviting poets to share bite-sized video reads from their recently released books in the upcoming month or so, and we should be back open hopefully sometime after June 25th, closer to July for our new print and online calls, or as soon as we get situated on Subfolio.
So in the meantime, look at all of those rad poetry collections above a bit further and add them to your 2025 reading list.
Any other thoughts, comments, or shares?
If you have any recent releases within the past 1-2 years or any poetry collection recommendations, totally feel free to comment below and share too—I will check them out and bookmark them when I can. I tend to do book recs on our social media channels and stories throughout the year, but only recently started these recs lists and will try to share more later.
Take care. ~ Jazz Marie (VFORROW)
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