21 Bestselling Poetry Books for Full Year - 2023

AALBC’s Bestselling Book SealOur bestsellers list has been published continuously since 1998. Learn More ▶

These books are the bestsellers of all our bestselling books for entire year! The newest book considered was Only for the Brave at Heart: Essays Rethinking Race, Crime, and Justice by Leon E. Pettiway (Dec 14, 2023). The oldest was No Place to be Somebody: A Black-black Comedy (1969) by Charles Gordone.

View a printer-friendly version and a collage of the book covers. Also, check out links to more great books. Enjoy

#2

Book cover of 1919 by Eve L. Ewing

1919

by Eve L. Ewing

Add to Cart

#7

Book cover of Leadbelly by Tyehimba Jess

Leadbelly

by Tyehimba Jess

Add to Cart

#10

Book cover of Dream of a Word: The Tia Chucha Press Poetry Anthology by Quraysh Ali Lansana and Toni Asante Lightfoot

Dream of a Word

by Quraysh Ali Lansana and Toni Asante Lightfoot

Add to Cart

#11

Book cover of Blessing The Boats: New And Selected Poems 1988-2000 (American Poets Continuum) by Lucille Clifton

Blessing The Boats

by Lucille Clifton

Add to Cart

#13

Book cover of Life On Mars: Poems by Tracy K. Smith

Life On Mars

by Tracy K. Smith

Add to Cart

#15

Book cover of Hipology: Horizons in Poetry by Ron Alle and Stella Crews

Hipology

by Ron Alle and Stella Crews

(Sold by Alternative Sources)

#16

Book cover of Magic City by Yusef Komunyakaa

Magic City

by Yusef Komunyakaa

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#19

Book cover of S O S: Poems 1961-2013 by Amiri Baraka

S O S

by Amiri Baraka

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More About our Bestsellers List


You will learn about books selling well, in the Black community, that may never show up on lists published by corporate entities. Spread the word about our list; don’t let one or two lists, which we don’t control, determine which books are important.

We collect our bestselling titles from all our sales channels. The majority of our sales come from this website and our in-person events. We also include sales generated through our affiliate relationships, including Bookshop.org, Libro.fm (audiobooks), Black History 365 Education, and Amazon.com*.

We aggregate all formats of a book sold (print, ebook, and audio) into one format, usually the most popular print format

*For a few years, we actively boycotted Amazon but have discontinued this practice, as many of our authors have made their books exclusively available from Amazon. While we discourage giving Amazon the exclusive right to sell a book, we do not want this to be a reason to exclude an author from our site. Amazon also has an effective monopoly on eBooks and out-of-print books, which we highlight on this site.


The Most Critically Acclaimed Books

Bestselling Books By Year May be Found Here

Our All-Time Bestselling Books May be Found Here