The Sealey Challenge began in 2017 with a simple hashtag: #TheSealeyChallenge. Inundated with life, poet Nicole Sealey was struggling to find time to read for pleasure. She committed to reading one book of poetry each day in the month of August. She used social media to share her personal challenge. Now in its sixth year, The Sealey Challenge has spread far beyond Sealey herself, taking the reading world by storm. There’s a lot of great poetry out there, and I want to help you get a head start. All of these books are less than 150 pages. To get through 31 books in 31 days, you won’t do yourself any favors trying to read the collected poetry of Emily Dickinson or a book-length prose poem. Gotta keep them short. While there aren’t 31 books on this list, there are enough to get you through the first two weeks of the challenge. For even more recommendations, check out our previous poetry posts.
