Works by
Denise Duhamel
(Poet)
[1961 - ]

Anthologies

• The Best American Poetry 2000 (2000), David Lehman and Rita Dove, eds.

• The Best American Poetry 1998 (1998), David Lehman and John Hollander, eds.

• The Unbearables (1995)

• Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café (1994), Bob Holman and Miguel Algarin, eds.

• The Best American Poetry 1994 (1994), David Lehman and A. R. Ammons, eds.

• The Best American Poetry 1993 (1993), David Lehman and Louise Glück, eds.
   

Poetry

• Two and Two (2005)
  Denise Duhamel's much anticipated new collection begins with a revisionist tale-Noah is married to Joan of Arc-in a poem about America's often flawed sense of history. Throughout Two and Two, doubles abound: Noah's animals; Duhamel's parents as Jack and Jill in a near-fatal accident; an incestuous double sestina; a male/female pantoum; a dream and its interpretation; and translations of advertisements from English to Spanish. In two Möbius strip poems (shaped like the Twin Towers), Duhamel invites her readers to get out their scissors and tape and transform her poems into 3-D objects.
  
  At the book's center is "Love Which Took Its Symmetry for Granted," a gathering of journal entries, personal e-mails, and news reports into a collage of witness about September 11. A section of "Mille et un sentiments," modeled on the lists of Hervé Le Tellier, Georges Perec, and George Brainard, breaks down emotions to their most basic levels, their 1,001 tiny recognitions. The book ends with "Carbó Frescos," written in the form of an art guidebook from the 24th century.
  
  Innovative and unpretentious, Duhamel uses twice the language usually available for poetry. She culls from the literary and nonliterary, from the Bible and product warning labels, from Woody Allen films and Hong Kong action movies--to say difficult things with astonishing accuracy. Two and Two is second to none.

• Mille et un sentiments (2005)
  In 1001 numbered sentences, Denise Duhamel's innovative book extends notions of poetry, prose, and the poetry book. This long poem, which has been excerpted in some of the most exciting contemporary literary journals, combines an intense attention to the languages of desire and the mundane with sharp wit and a sharp eye for the ways American culture seeps into personal life.

• Ka-Ching! (Jan 31, 2009)
  Ka-Ching! is a book of poems that explores America’s obsession with money. It also includes a crown of sonnets about e-bay, sestinas on the subjects of Sean Penn and the main characters of fairytales, a pantoum that riffs on a childhood riddle, and a villanelle inspired by bathroom grafitti.  Ages 9-12.

• Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (2001)


A selection of poetry by Denise Duhamel, in which she suffers postmodernist angst when using the "therapeutic I". The volume features poems from Duhamel's five previous collections, which include "Smile!", "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Girl Soldier".

• The Star-Spangled Banner (1999) -- Winner Crab Orchard Poetry Prize
  This sixth book of poems from Denise Duhamel is about falling in love, American-style, with someone who is not American.

• Kinky (1997)
  "I'd buy this book just for the cover, but the poems are even twice as wonderful. Denise Duhamel has apparently obsessed for months about the Barbie doll phenomenon: all the poems have to do with the "what if " of Barbie attempting to fit into the real world. For example, what if Barbie were codependent? What if Barbie were in therapy? What if she were a religious fanatic? Do you know why Barbie and Ken don't dress in underwear? Why Barbie joined a 12 Step Program? How can you sleep nights without delving into the mysteries of this pop culture darling with the plastic eyelashes?"
                                             -- Amazon.com review

• Girl Soldier (1996)

• How the Sky Fell (1996) -- Winner 1995 Pearl Chapbook Contest

• It's My Body (1992)

• Skirted Issues (1990)

• Heaven And Heck (1988, 1989, 1990)