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5 top poetry picks for LGBTQI+ History Month

February in the UK is LGBTQI+ History Month, and to mark it the national Poetry Library has gathered together a celebration of LGBTQI+ poetry in their eloan collection. 

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Reading time 1 minute read
Originally posted Mon 15 Feb 2021

This celebratory group includes poets of the past such as Sappho, Walt Whitman and Cavafy, and their poems are as essential and vivid as the most recent debuts in the collection by exciting new talents, Jay Bernard, Mary Jean Chan and Phoebe Stuckes.

With ‘Body, Mind, Spirit’ being the theme of this year’s LGBTQI+ History Month, our National Poetry Librarians have picked out these five works from the collection that capture some of these aspects.

Front cover of the poetry book When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen

Front cover of the poetry book Flèche by Mary Jean Chan

Flèche by Mary Jean Chan

Front cover of the poetry book Blazons: New and Selected Poems, 2000-2018 by Marilyn Hacker

Blazons: New and Selected Poems, 2000-2018 by Marilyn Hacker

 Front cover of the poetry book New Selected Poems by Edwin Morgan

New Selected Poems by Edwin Morgan

Front cover of the poetry book Physical by Andrew McMillan

Physical by Andrew McMillan

Beyond these five selections there are a huge number of other anthologies, titles and pamphlets in the National Poetry Library. Take a look at the full collection the library has pulled together in celebration of LGBTQI+ History Month on the website.

NPL LGBTQI+ History Month collection

The National Poetry Library’s eloan collection consists of ebooks and audio freely accessible to anyone resident in the UK.

Please email [email protected] to receive your password and start to access over 850 titles.