Ink Knows No Border: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience

I tend to look sideways at professors who assign their own books to their classes, so although I am included in Ink Knows No Borders, I hope this recommendation won’t elicit the same shady response I would typically give. I would recommend this collection even if I didn’t have a poem in it because it’s a powerhouse of a collection! In 64 poems, poets from around the world “share the experience of first- and second-generation young adult immigrants and refugees.” From chronicling first kisses, to challenging parental language regarding race, to contemplating what being a Dreamer means in the United States, this collection covers the mundane and the miraculous of being a stranger in a strange land, of attempting to make a home in a new country, yet also preserve the heritage of the old. This multigenerational collection features Martín Espada, Eavan Boland, Li-Young Lee, Ilya Kaminsky, Fatimah Asghar, and Javier Zamora, among many others. It is an anthology with a bounty of offerings.