Where To Get Poetry Collections For Dirt Cheap Prices

Iain Broome tweeted a link to this Guardian article: "A poetry plea: which modern collections would you recommend to a novice?" In the piece, the author, Alison Flood, mentions how attending a reading by Seamus Heaney helped her realize that she didn't own many poetry collections that weren't "at least a century out of date," and asked for reader recommendations for "a poetry collection novice, with small funds."

I'm not going to tackle the subject of recommending poets for novice readers. Every reader is different, and what appeals to one reader of poetry won't appeal to another -- lots of people love Mary Oliver's work, for example, but I've never found her very interesting.

But I can show you how to build a poetry collection without spending a lot of money. I find a lot of poetry books at dirt cheap prices, and you can too. Here's a few places to look:

Thrift Stores

Thrift stores don't usually carry a lot of poetry, but when you do find it, you can usually pick up a book for next to nothing. I found a copy of Elizabeth Bishop's Geography III for 15 cents, and a signed copy of Henry S. Taylor's Brief Candles: 101 Clerihews for a quarter. Larger thrift stores tend to have bigger book collections, so scope those out, and be sure to look in unlikely places -- my local thrift store has a shelf of poetry books, for example, but I've also found poetry in the religion section and under classics. If you can, make friends with some of store's workers -- you can let them know that you're looking for poetry books, and they might be willing to contact you if something new comes in.

Clearance Rack at Bookstores

The local Books'a'Million has a cart of books that they put outside the doors, and everything on that cart is $1. Most of the books aren't very interesting, but I've managed to find a few good poetry books mixed in -- I picked up Sherod Santos' The Pilot Star Elegies, Thom Gunn's The Man With Night Sweats, and Charles Wright's Buffalo Yoga on one particularly successful trip.

Library Book Sales

Many libraries hold periodic book sales to raise funds or to clear their collection to make room for new books. I haven't found a lot of poetry books at library book sales, but when I do, they usually sell for less than half the retail price. The best books tend to sell quickly, so make sure you get there early. While you're at the library, be sure to check out the poetry collection -- you won't get to keep the books forever, but it can be a great way to discover a new favorite poet. Edit: I found 32 books of poetry at a library book sale once, and got them all for less than a dollar a book.

Yard Sales

This one can be a little hit and miss. If you live in a somewhat affluent neighborhood, or one with a higher-than average percentage of college-educated residents, you're more likely to find poetry books included in yard sales. Whenever you do find one, though, you can usually get the book for next to nothing -- I've never paid more than 50 cents for a poetry book at a yard sale.

The great thing about finding poetry books at dirt cheap prices is that you can take a risk and pick up an unknown poet. If you don't like them, you've only spent a dollar or less on their book, so it's no big loss, and you never know -- they might turn out to be a new favorite.