“The August Preoccupations”
Catherine Barnett

“Whether by Drowning or by Stars”
Mark Bibbins

“Late Summer”
James Brasfield

“Cannery Town in August”
Lorna Dee Cervantes

“August Evening”
Sandor Csoori

“An August Midnight”
Thomas Hardy

“Crossing Brooklyn Bridge at 4 O’Clock in the Morning, August 4th, 1979”
Calvin C. Hernton

“August”
Lizette Woodworth Reese

“three Black poems from August”
Danez Smith

“August Moonrise”
Sara Teasdale

from the archive

(Left to right): Czeslaw Milosz, Joseph Brodsky, Rita Dove, Derek Walcott, and Octavio Paz at the 1994 Nobel Laureates’ Reading.

poem-a-day guest editor

I really wanted this month to represent what I think is the necessary communal tapestry of poetry.

Read a Q&A with Danez Smith, who served as our Poem-a-Day Guest Editor in August.

pick of the week

On Tuesday, September 17, at 7 p.m. ET, join Poets & Writers to celebrate Fady Joudah, winner of the 2024 Jackson Poetry Prize. Joudah will be joined in conversation by Pádraig Ó Tuama. Presented for in-person attendees (44 Charlton St., New York, NY 10014) and a global audience via Zoom at 7 p.m. ET.  (Sponsored)

2025 Academy of American Poets First Book Award: Winner receives $5,000, publication by Graywolf Press, and a six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center. Former Chancellor Alberto Ríos will judge. Apply here by September 1.

2025 PeriPlus Fellowship: Applications now open for the Periplus fellowship. Apply by September 20.