As Christmas approaches, we’re entering the last weekend before the holiday itself, and here at the last minute, we might think of going to the malls and online to buy clothes for moms and tools for dads, tech for teens and toys for kids, but there’s one more suggestion that the TV and the online ads are neglecting: books of poetry. 

If you’re looking for direction for giving the gift of poetry, books by Alabama poets that have been published fairly recently include:

Mend by Kwoya Fagin-Maples

American Happiness by Jacqueline Trimble

The Myth of Water by Jeanie Thompson

Magic City Gospel by Ashley M. Jones

Americana by TJ Beitelman

Dear Slave by Irene Latham

Known by Salt (forthcoming) by Tina Mozelle Braziel

And if that’s not enough information, you can consider giving a subscription to or buying back issues of one of the state’s literary magazines:

Black Warrior Review (Tuscaloosa)

Birmingham Poetry Review

Birmingham Arts Journal

Southern Humanities Review (Auburn)

Poem (Huntsville)

Steel Toe Review (Birmingham)

Negative Capability (Mobile)

You can also link to the Alabama Writers Forum’s Contemporary Alabama Writers Directory, and visit the page for poets.