Reintroducing the poetry discount

It is not uncommon that people tell me they would like to read poetry, but they just don't understand it. Or they would like to read poetry, but they don't know whom to read, or where to find the good stuff.  To that end (and because we have a longstanding love of the form), I have decided to add some recurring posts here with recommendations. We'll feature some of the old greats, but mostly contemporary and local writing. And understandable stuff. It shouldn't be a revolutionary act to view communication as the end goal of a poem, or of any writing really. But if it is, here we are.

This month's poets are W. H. Auden, Audre Lorde, and Jenny Johnson. If you click their names below, you can read however much biography you like, but I tend to like letting the poets speak for themselves. The titles link to poems able to be found online.

As has long been the case, you can recite from memory 5 lines of anything from these poets at the register for our poetry discount, which is 10% off your order. All discounts are at the discretion of the cashier, so please be kind and forgodsakes don't read off your phone. As stated above, it's about communication. Enjoy!

W. H. Auden mostly wrote in the 1930s-60s. September 1, 1939, Funeral Blues, Musee dex Beaux Arts

Audre Lorde mostly wrote in the 1960s-1990s. A Woman Speaks, Power, Coal, Movement Song

Jenny Johnson is writing now! Souvenirs, In the Dream, Spaces, and a few other selections. She's worked with the UVA Young Writers Workshop in the past.