Inspired by a series of themed open-mic nights from his college days, a novelist drops his first collection of poems. In the 1990s, the late, great Bradford College put on a series of “Bad Poetry Nights” for their beleaguered student writers. These fast-paced evenings of literary shenanigans had one simple premise: compose the worst poem you could in five minutes or fewer, using 3–5 absurd words plucked from a hat by the hosts. The only trouble was this: give a talented writer a set of clear constraints, no matter how ridiculous, and they can’t help but produce something compelling. It is in that spirit that novelist E. Christopher Clark (Bradford Class of 1999) approached his first collection of verse. With words and phrases drawn from kitchen magnets, playing cards, and his own tortured imagination, Clark has assembled thirty-five poems which would make the bad poets of old look up from their black coffees, peer out from under their ironically worn berets, and offer knowing nods of approval. Sometimes sardonic, often nostalgic, and occasionally absurd, these poems “are often more poignant than you might expect,” writes Amazon reviewer Jessica Lucci. Buy Bad Poetry Night today to find out what happens when Herman Melville meets the Monkees and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s invades the dreams of Donald J. Trump.

Writing very bad poetry requires talent. It helps to have a wooden ear for words, a penchant for sinking into a mire of sentimentality, and an enviable confidence that allows one to write despite absolutely appalling incompetence. The 131 poems collected in this first-of-its-kind anthology are so glaringly awful that they embody a kind of genius. From Fred Emerson Brooks' "The Stuttering Lover" to Matthew Green's "The Spleen" to Georgia Bailey Parrington's misguided "An Elegy to a Dissected Puppy", they mangle meter, run rampant over rhyme, and bludgeon us into insensibility with their grandiosity, anticlimax, and malapropism. Guaranteed to move even the most stoic reader to tears (of laughter), Very Bad Poetry is sure to become a favorite of the poetically inclined (and disinclined).

A hysterical collection of bad poetry. It includes such work as: "Tea For Two" ("A Tragedy"); "Nietzsche And The Ice-Cream Truck"; "Capitalism Can Fall Not Like I Fell For You"; "Inappropriately Touched By An Angel"; and, "Love Is Like A Toilet Bowl."

One of the most respected artists in popular music today, Jewel is much more than a music industry success with her debut album selling more than 10 million copies. Before her gifted songwriting comes an even more individual art: Poetry. Now available in paperback, A Night without Armor highlights the poetry of Jewel taken from her journals which are both intimate and inspiring, to be embraced and enjoyed. Writing poems and keeping journals since childhood, Jewel has been searching for truth and meaning, turning to her words to record, to discover, and to reflect. In A Night Without Armor, her first collection of poetry, Jewel explores the fire of first love, the lessons of betrayal, and the healing of intimacy. She delves into matters of the home, the comfort of family, the beauty of Alaska, and the dislocation of divorce. Frank and honest, serious and suddenly playful, A Night Without Armor is a talented artist's intimate portrait of what makes us uniquely human.

A dazzling debut collection of raw and explosive poems about growing up in a sexist, sensationalized world, from a thrilling new feminist voice. i’m a good girl, bad girl, dream girl, sad girl girl next door sunbathing in the driveway i wanna be them all at once, i wanna be all the girls I’ve ever loved —from “Girl” Lauded for the power of her writing and having attracted an online fan base of millions for her extraordinary spoken-word performances, Olivia Gatwood now weaves together her own coming-of-age with an investigation into our culture’s romanticization of violence against women. At times blistering and riotous, at times soulful and exuberant, Life of the Party explores the boundary between what is real and what is imagined in a life saturated with fear. Gatwood asks, How does a girl grow into a woman in a world racked by violence? Where is the line between perpetrator and victim? In precise, searing language, she illustrates how what happens to our bodies can make us who we are. Praise for Life of the Party “Delicately devastating, this book will make us all ‘feel less alone in the dark.’ ”—Miel Bredouw, writer and comedian, Punch Up the Jam “Gatwood writes about the women who were forgotten and the men who got off too easy with an effortlessness and empathy and anger that yanked every emotion on the spectrum out of me. Imagine, we get to live in the age of Olivia Gatwood. Goddamn.”—Jamie Loftus, writer and comedian, Boss Whom Is Girl and The Bechdel Cast “I’ve read every poem in Life of the Party. I’ve read each of them more than once. In some parts of the book the spine is already breaking because I’ve spent so much time poring over it and losing hours in this world Olivia Gatwood has partly created, but partly just invited the reader to enter on their own, caution signs be damned. This book is enlightening, inspiring, igniting, and f***ing scary. I loved every word on every page with a ferocity that frightened me.”—Madeline Brewer, actress, The Handmaid’s Tale, Orange Is the New Black, and Cam

Top selling poet Sarah Kay releases her debut collection of work from the first decade of her career. Following the success of her breakout poem, "B," No Matter the Wreckage presents readers with new and beloved work that showcases Kay's skill for celebrating family, love, travel, history, and unlikely love affairs between inanimate objects ("Toothbrush to the Bicycle Tire"). Both fresh and wise, Kay's poetry allows readers to join in on her journey of discovering herself and the world around her. - 2011 TED speaker (recording has been viewed 3 million times online) - First book, "B" was ranked #1 Bestselling Poetry Book on Amazon - Featured on HBO, American Public Radio, Huffington Post, CNN.com, etc. - Founder and Co-Director of Project VOICE

Teen Angst: A Celebration of Really Bad Poetry is the first, the best, and the biggest collection of teen angst poetry ever to be published. Inspired by the popularity of her interactive website, editor Sara Bynoe has compiled the definitive teen angst reader. Divided into 12 categories, including I am Alone and No One Understands My Pain and Obvious Metaphors, this book is for anyone who has ever written truly terrible, meditative, or self-indulgent poetry. Actually, this book is for anyone who survived being a teenager. All of the poets featured in this collection are now adults, living happy, angst-free lives. However, for this special book, they are willing to reveal excerpts from their old tattered notebooks or leather bound journals. Along with the poems, each poet has included a short introduction, giving background information for each work. As Sara Bynoe says, looking back on teen angst poetry brings people together in a "poetry reading meets stand-up comedy meets AA" sort of way.