At the close of every year, for over a decade, I have taken a moment to reflect upon the year’s publications. Like in previous years, my “most engaging books” list reflects what I found most fascinating / useful / generative in terms of form & content from the books I read in 2023.

Seek out these volumes; every one will reward the search (your local, independent, bookstore can help; an excellent choice as many continue to struggle). This is the cream of the crop for 2023, seriously … from poetry to fiction, translation to nonfiction, each of these titles will blow your mind:

Abel, Jordan. Empty Spaces (Penguin Random House)

Archer, Sacha. cellsea (Timglaset Editions)

Barwin, Gary. Portal (Potential Books)

“Berrigan, Raymond”. Sonnets Edited by Philip Terry (Timglaset Editions)

Bertram, Lillian-Yvonne. Negative Money (Soft Skull Press)

Briggs, Kate. The Long Form (Dorothy, A Publishing Project)

Copithorne, Judith. Another Order: Selected Works Edited with an introduction by Eric Schmaltz (Talonbooks)

Desnos, Robert. Night of Loveless Nights Translated by Lewis Warsh (Winter Editions)

Griffiths, Paul. Let Me Go On (Henningham Family Press)

Homer, The Iliad Translated by Emily Wilson (W.W. Norton)

Hussain, Nasser. Love Language (Coach House Books)

Melgard, Holly. Read Me: Selected Works (Ugly Duckling Presse)

Schmaltz, Eric. Borderblur Poetics: Intermedia and Avant-Gardism in Canada, 1963-1988 (University of Calgary Press)

Storm, Danni. W(ord)s & Weavings (Galleri Orn / Eget Forlag)

Tucker, Aaron. Soldier, Hunters, Not Cowboys (Coach House Books)