7 Collections of Poetry in the Age of Technology
Poetry is an age-old art, but that doesn’t mean its topics have to be. Poetry can be used as a tool to analyze, understand, and express the complications of the present age and ideas about the future. If you’re interested in how technology influences our world, don’t miss these seven collections that contemplate modern, contemporary, or even futuristic living.
In Real Life by Leticia Sala
A classic long-distance romance gets a silicon-age twist in this bilingual poetry collection. Author Leticia Sala uses both Portuguese and English to tell a story of chaos, culture, passion, and love. While the book begins in a digital setting, the story ultimately transcends space and time. If this collection catches your attention, you might also like Sala’s first book, Scrolling After Sex.
God I Feel Modern Tonight by Catherine Cohen
If the words “millenial” and “quarantine” send a chill up your spine, comedian Catherine Cohen’s God I Feel Modern Tonight will help put a funny spin on 2020’s worst nightmares. With a sharp sense of humor, this collection touches on heartbreak and sex, self-care and criticism, and the overall ennui that penetrates contemporary living.
Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
Life on Mars is one of the strongest examples of world-building in poetry to date. Against the backdrop of a sci-fi dystopia, Smith contemplates the joys, pains, and oddities of human existence. In a world where interplanetary travel is possible, the strangest beings are actually ourselves.
Unfollowing You by Komal Kapoor
Heartbreak is hard enough without social media getting in the way. In the digital age, it’s near-impossible to escape all online signs of your ex—but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. Komal Kapoor’s Unfollowing You blends poems, prose, texts, and unsent letters to tell the story of love and heartbreak in the 21st century. This socially-aware collection brings swipe-culture and social media under the microscope.
Dawn of the Algorithm by Yann Rousselot
A sci-fi poet with a steampunk twist, Yann Rousselot brings zombies, robots, and mere morals under one roof in this mind-bending collection. Dawn of the Algorithm draws on TV tropes, movie cliches, and pop culture to make playful but painful conclusions about 21st century Earth. Despite the collection’s dark humor, at its core, it reminds us all of the ever-human desire to connect.
Love in a Time of Robot Apocalypse by David Perez
Poet Laureate of San Jose, David Perez stages his debut collection at the end of the world with Love in a Time of Robot Apocalypse. The collection marries absurdity, artistry, and brutal realism in each poem. On the brink of existence, Perez shows readers the significance of what was once mundane and encourages us to think of what is truly worth saving.
A Small Fiction by James and Jefferson Miller
A Small Fiction shares bite-sized stories that take on themes of the paranormal, science fiction and AI, childhood nostalgia, and existential dread—but not without a sense of humor. Brothers James and Jefferson Miller wrote and illustrated the collection together, drawing on their real-life experiences. If you want a mix of sad-happy-scary-modern-sci-fi-fun, A Small Fiction is for you.
