2026 Weekly Reading List: 52 Contemporary Poets

Creating a reading list is a fantastic, selfish enterprise. That’s the joy of it. You’re not making a syllabus for students or a list based on some random, external criteria imposed on you. You get to make the rules.

I have to say, creating a poetry reading list for 2026 was a real pleasure, and, thanks to technology, it was easier than I thought it would be.

I set about the task with a specific goal in mind: to become better acquainted with contemporary poets – living poets, especially. As an English major, I’ve studied the major poets extensively. Keats, in fact, put the idea in my head for a list years ago. In Sleep and Poetry, he wrote

"And for I fear lest ten years hence I should be suffering still

The same distress. . .

That my own soul has to itself decreed."

Keats wanted a ten-year period of intense study of poetry to develop his mastery as quickly as possible. Keats was twenty at the time.

Twenty.

But I digress. I must, alas, set Keats' astounding and prodigious talent aside.

It’s high time for some expansion of mine own literary horizons. So I just Googled “best living poets”. Seek and ye shall find.

There’s a lot of information out there (once you get past the idiotic caveat that “best living poets are subjective” – gee, really?) The list will get you started, but then the real fun starts.

I started to refine my search. I wanted to find the best contemporary poets, but not just the poets laureate, the well-known, established poets. I wanted to find the young, emerging poets.

Then, I wanted to find contemporary poets from around the world, because my erudition is somewhat limited to western literature. That’s when you search “Best living …… poets” and you can fill in the blank with whatever country suits your literary fancy.

Then the only challenge is who to include and who to leave off (for later, of course). Those who are not on this list are on another list – one that, with a blessing, will be pursued at a later date, for as you will see from the list below, my year is booked solid.

Honestly, I did not know most of the names on this list before I started my research, so I'm no expert. I'm just someone who is eager to learn more about poetry.

Now, some housekeeping – I have dedicated a week to each poet with a few exceptions. I started with Paul Muldoon and did not want to short-change him, so rather than give him four days and cram Joy Harjo in during 1/1 – 1/11, I decided to give Mr. Muldoon his proper due. He gets 10 days – only because he’s first.

You will notice a five-week focus on contemporary Irish poets coupled with renowned Irish poets. This is a brief respite because I am planning a trip to the Emerald Isle in April and relish the idea of completely submerging myself in the poetry of Ireland – present and past to prepare for the trip.

Also, some of the poets are recently deceased.

Like I said: I make the rules.

Not really much else was used to pick these poets. I wanted an eclectic mix and if someone sounded interesting, they got a week.

I have given myself a week for each poet. It may take more or less time to complete my study, which will include learning first about the poet, then studying their poetry.

I will write down my thoughts about each poet, but I don’t want to make a commitment about how much or what, exactly, I will write. I do not wish for this to become a burden, but rather a labor of love.

I do not intend to spend any money on this venture (well, aside from the small fortune for the trip to Ireland). Most of these poets can be found on poetryfoundation.org and for those who can’t, their work can be sound via a simple Google search or, in a few cases, I’ve listed the websites where their work can be found.

If you’re wondering if you can “use” my list. I not only welcome you to use it, I request that you use it. Feel free to edit to suit your own pleasure.

It would be great to have some fellow writers accompany me on this wonderful odyssey.

I dare to hope that if you do, we might compare notes and thoughts on what is sure to be an amazing literary adventure. Also, if you're thinking "how on earth did he miss so-and-so?" Please let me know - broaden my horizons even further.

So without further delay, I present…

List of Contemporary Poets to Read in 2026 (With a side trip to Ireland)

1/1 – 1/11 – Paul Muldoon

1/18 – 1/24 – Joy Harjo

1/25 – 2/1 – Li-Young Lee

2/2 – 2/8 – Amanda Gorman

2/9 – 2/15 – Billy Collins

2/16 – 2/22 – Terrance Hayes

2/23 – 3/1 – Michael Oondatje

3/2 – 3/8 – Nikki Giovanni

3/9 – 3/15 – A.E. Stallings

3/16 – 3/22 – (Ireland) – Eavan Boland/Thomas Moore

3/23 – 3/29 – (Ireland) - Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill/W.B. Yeats

3/30 – 4/5 – (Ireland) - Medbh McGuckian/Seamus Heaney

4/6 – 4/12 – (Ireland) - Michael Longley/Patrick Kavanagh

4/13 – 4/19 – (Ireland) – Frank McGuiness/Oscar Wilde

4/20 – 4/26 – Tracy K. Smith

4/27 – 5/3 – Charles Simic

5/4 – 5/10 – Vera Pavlova

5/11 – 5/17 – Maricela Guerrero

5/18 – 5/24 – Chris Tse

5/25 – 5/31 – Jericho Brown

6/1 – 6/7 – Margaret Atwood

6/8 – 6/14 – Rupi Kaur

6/15 – 6/21 – Ko Un

6/22 – 6/28 – Elfie Tromp

6/29 – 7/4 – Maggie Nelson

7/5 – 7/11 – Simon Armitage

7/12 – 7/18 – Harryette Mullen

7/19 – 7/25 – Don Paterson

7/26 – 8/1 – W.S. Merwin

8/2 – 8/8 – Ocean Vuong

8/9 – 8/14 – Claudia Rankine

8/15 – 8/21 – Ross Gay

8/22 – 8/28 – Alice Oswald

8/29 – 9/4 – Rita Dove

9/5 – 9/11 – Natalie Diaz

9/12 – 9/18 – Tayi Tibble

9/19 – 9/25 – Maria Zoccola (mariazoccola.com)

9/26 – 10/2 – Vaclav Havel

10/3 – 10/9 – Zang Di (poetryinternational.com)

10/10 – 10/16 – Ryoko Sekiguchi

10/17 – 10/23 – Paolo Del Colle

10/24 – 10/30 – Nora Bossong

10/31 – 11/5 – Ranjit Hoskote

11/6 – 11/12 – Ashley Makue

11/13 – 11/19 – Mario Vargas Llosa

11/20 – 11/26 – Rafael Cadenas

11/27 – 12/3 – Aranta Garcia

12/4 – 12/10 – Wojciech Bonowicz

12/11 – 12/17 – Faleeha Hassan

12/18 – 12/24 – Javier Cercas

12/24 – 12/30 – Per Gimferrer