“Wherever these poets are writing from, they—and we—are together in this ‘sudden strangeness,’ possibly the most dramatic period most of us have ever known,” writes editor Alice Quinn in the introduction of Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America’s Poets Respond to the Pandemic, a timely anthology of poems, many of which were written in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The collection includes the work of over one hundred renowned and emerging poets such as Jericho Brown, Ama Codjoe, Fanny Howe, Ada Limón, Vijay Seshadri, and Jenny Xie. From fierce truths to dark humor, readers can share in the experience of being delighted and illuminated through this essential, urgent poetry anthology that addresses the fear, grief, and hope felt in these times. As Quinn writes: “These poems reflect how our poets are reckoning with this unforeseen calamity and reaching out to connect with us, their readers, to share the illumination of life that beckons to all in dark times.”
