I’m a poet who wrote a novel. I also teach an MFA class titled The Poet’s Novel. And so my bookshelf contains no shortage of—wait for it—novels written by poets.
Ruth Madievsky’s All-Night Pharmacy is a blissful blur of drug-induced mania, a tale of romantic relationships gone bad and family relationships gone worse. When it comes to similes, nobody can touch Madievsky: “The blood surfaced delicately, like fresh buds emerging from the ground.”
I heard Hala Alyan give an incredible poetry reading once, and I’ve looked forward to her novels ever since. The Arsonists’ City is her second novel, and it’s a deeply compelling narrative about a family dispersed across multiple divides—geographic and generational. The ending was that rarest of gifts, both surprising and satisfying.
Other poets’ novels I want to highlight: William Brewer’s The Red Arrow, Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ben Lerner’s The Topeka School, Rachel Eliza Griffiths’s Promise, Denis Johnson’s The Largesse of the Sea Maiden (short stories), Jenny Zhang’s Sour Heart (also short stories). Keep an eye out for Kaveh Akbar’s Marytr!, a wildly astonishing addition to the category, slated to pub early next year.
Some other books I read this year and loved: Hilary Leichter’s A Terrace Story, Jane Wong’s Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, Jimin Han’s The Apology, Jen Levitt’s So Long, Richard Mirabella’s Brother & Sister Enter the Forest, Vievee Francis’s The Shared World, Josh Reidel’s Please Report Your Bug Here, Jiordan Castle’s Disappearing Act.
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