I drove from Nashville to Santa Fe, N.M., last summer, going through Texas on the way there and Colorado and Kansas on the way back. I was reminded of this trip while reading Ben Groner’s debut poetry collection Dust Storms May Exist. Groner wrote about his 10,000-mile road trip throughout America and what he saw, and learned, along the way. I saw many of the things Groner writes about in these poems. Debut poetry collections don’t always get the same fanfare as debut novels, so it’s been special to see the poetry community rally behind Groner and this book, with blurbs from poets like Destiny O. Birdsong and Tiana Clark, and a book launch at Parnassus Books attended by even more local poets.Â
Best Poetry Collection
