April is National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world. Launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month’s goals are to honor the vital role poets and poetry play in our cultural identity and to celebrate the beauty and power of language. This booklist highlights five works of fiction written by poets. The books on this list offer readers stories that are intriguing, dark, poignant, witty, and satirical – all in language that possesses the sensorial and evocative qualities of poetry.
The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath
The Bell Jar is the only novel written by American poet Sylvia Plath. The novel tells the story of Esther Greenwood, a 19-year-old undergraduate from Boston, as she experiences a mental breakdown during a summer internship with the fictional Ladies’ Day magazine in New York City. Esther is ambitious but finds she cannot feel anything about the work she’s doing for the magazine or for the bustling world of fashion and society the internship immerses her in. Plath’s novel is witty and dark, and deals with themes of women’s roles in society, identity, and mental health. After years of struggling with her own mental health issues, Plath took her own life, and many critics draw parallels between The Bell Jar’s storyline and Plath’s lived experiences.
Read Plath’s poetry in The Collected Poems, The Colossus & Other Poems, Ariel, Crossing the Water, and Winter Trees.
The letters of Sylvia Plath print book
Red comet : the short life and blazing art of Sylvia Plath print book
10:04 by Ben Lerner
The narrator of American poet Ben Learner’s second novel is a young and successful writer. After receiving a potentially devastating medical diagnosis, the unnamed narrator is asked by his best friend to conceive a child with her. These events lead the narrator to a reckoning between his past and present. Set against the backdrop of a New York City facing increasingly frequent super storms and political unrest, the narrator must also confront the volatility of his (and everyone’s) future. 10:04 explores multiple plot lines and immerses the reader in Lerner’s sophisticated, playful language.
Read Lerner’s poetry in The Lights, Angle of Yaw, The Lichtenberg Figures, and Mean Free Path.
Transient Worlds by Arthur Sze
Transient Worlds by Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze was appointed as the U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Born in New York City in 1950 to Chinese immigrant parents, Sze has authored 12 poetry collections, including Into the Hush (2025) and Sight Lines (2019), which won the National Book Award for Poetry. His other notable works include Compass Rose (2014), a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and The Glass Constellation (2021), which received the 2024 Science and Literature Award from the National Book Foundation. Sze has also published translations of Chinese poetry, including The Silk Dragon II (2024), reflecting his commitment to cross-cultural literary exchange.