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April 1, 2024 – April 30, 2024
Location: Hubbard Case

For National Poetry Month, Duke University Libraries highlights poetry published by independent and small presses. Small presses generally publish fewer than ten titles per year, have no corporate affiliation, and are frequently non-profits.

Small press publishing is an especially critical component of Duke’s collecting efforts because it increases the presence of diverse and emerging voices throughout our collections. To ensure such representation we work directly with independent publishers and specialized distributors.

The titles offered here are drawn both from our general collection and from the holdings of the Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The presses represented include very small presses as well as those producing a broad range of nationally recognized titles. 

We invite you to browse and discover more examples of these presses in our New and Noteworthy section on the first floor of Perkins.


Abimbola, Kweku. Saltwater Demands a Psalm: Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press, 2023. https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE010955668

Animashaun, Abayomi. Seahorses. New York, NY : Black Lawrence Press, 2020. https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE010012764 

Burt, Stephanie. We Are Mermaids: Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press, 2022.  https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE010786884

Green, Jaki S. Breath of the Song: New and Selected Poems. Durham, N.C: Carolina Wren Press, 2005. https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE005069573

Mackey, Nathaniel. Four for Trane: Poems. Los Angeles: Golemics, 1978. https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE008833056  

Salazar, C T. American Cavewall Sonnets. Durham, NC: Bull City Press, 2021.  https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE010251455 

Wolf, Uljana. Subsisters: Selected Poems. Brooklyn, New York: Belladonna Collaborative, 2017. https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE008161538

VanderHart, Han. What Pecan Light: Poems. Durham, N.C.: Bull City Press, 2021. https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE010402406