An anthology of brand-new poems inspired by Taylor Swift songs, from a powerhouse group of contemporary poets, including Kate Baer, Maggie Smith, and Joy Harjo.

Let the decoding begin!

With a record-breaking four Grammy awards for Album of the Year, Taylor Swift stands alone in the world of pop music. One of the most talented lyricists of all time, her music captivates millions of fans throughout the globe with the narrative depth and emotional resonance of her songwriting.

In Invisible Strings, poet, professor, and dedicated Swiftie Kristie Frederick Daugherty has brought together 113 contemporary poets, each contributing an original poem that responds to a specific Taylor Swift song.

In a spirit of celebration and collaboration, poets have taken a cue from Swift’s love of dropping clues and puzzles for her fandom to decode, as each poem alludes to a song without using direct lyrics. Swifties will enjoy closely reading each of the poems to discover which song each poet responded to; each poem responds to only one song.

The collection showcases a diverse and accomplished array of writers including the 23rd US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, Pulitzer Prize winners Diane Seuss, Yusef Komunyakaa, Carl Phillips, Rae Armantrout, Paul Muldoon, and Gregory Pardlo, National Book Critics Circle Award winners Mary Jo Bang and Laura Kasischke, and bestselling poets Maggie Smith, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Kate Baer, amanda lovelace, Tyler Knott Gregson, and Jane Hirshfield.

Swifties will experience the profundity and nuance of Swift’s lyrics through these poems, while having fun matching the poems to songs from all of her eras—vault tracks included! For poetry lovers, this one-of-a-kind anthology is an unparalleled collection of new work from today’s most lauded and revered poets.

I loved the concept of the book when I first heard about it, but was a little hesitant because I don't typically read poetry. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing, and while I read through them fairly quickly, I marked down what stuck out to me, and am looking forward to going back and reading them closer and thinking about what songs are for which poems. I do wish the notes from the poets at the end included which songs they had, or that there would have been an addendum listing each one. I like that it didn't tell us in the beginning or as we were reading, but would be nice to have it at the end.

I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to any Swiftie, or anyone who is interested in poetry.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

4/5

I really enjoy Taylor Swift’s music and was really excited about this collection of poetry especially since there were several poets I recognized on the list. This volume accomplished what it set out to do and I enjoyed the poems included. I do wish we could have known what song was the inspiration for each poem, but I appreciated the outros that were included. I really like that this collection introduced me to some new poets.

As a poetry lover and a big Taylor Swift fan, I couldn’t resist picking up this book, and I’m so glad I did. The tribute to Swift’s work was both deeply emotional and a lot of fun. I especially appreciated the academic analysis at the start, which dove into the symbolism and imagery in her songwriting—it really added another layer to the experience.

Like with any anthology, there were some poems I connected with more than others, but overall, I felt like I could relate to all the poets as fellow Swifties. It was cool to see how her music inspired such a variety of interpretations and voices.

One thing I wasn’t totally sold on was the choice to leave the song that inspired each poem up to the reader to guess. While it was a fun challenge, I found myself wishing I could know for sure if I was on the right track. Still, that’s a minor thing, and it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the collection overall.

As a swiftie I absolutely loved this, such a neat concept!! Would make an awesome gift for Taylor swift fans

Even Taylor Swift couldn't make me like poetry. Not a reflection on the book or collection, just a personal preference.

English majors and swifties will love this book of poetry! It was really fun trying to figure out which poems related to which Taylor Swift songs. Definitely for fans of the artist but others can resonate as well.

I absolutely loved this! What a cool and unique concept - really enjoyed my time with this book and would recommend to my friends.

I'm not sure what i expected when i received this ARC but perhaps this just wasn't for me. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review

As a poetry reader and Taylor Swift fan, I could not ignore this book any longer. The homage was both emotional and entertaining, I loved that the collection was prefaced by more academically-oriented analysis of Swift’s songwriting, and the symbolisms and imagery used in her poetry.
As expected in any anthology, I was bound to enjoy some poems more than others, but I couldn’t help but connect with all the poets as fellow swifties.
Leaving the reader to figure out which song inspired the poem was a bold choice and maybe left me a bit wanting because of the fact that there was no way to know if I was right, though.

I tried numerous times to read this book and I think I might not like poetry that much. I was so busy trying to Easter egg what Swiftie song it was than I was actually reading the poems. Giving a three because I have to give something.

As a huge swifty I was excited to read this book! I don’t read a ton of poetry, but I do enjoy it occasionally. All of the poems in this collection were well written. My biggest frustration with this book is related to the corresponding songs. I wish there would have either been a list of the songs that are “referenced” even if it didn’t say which poem, it was (I feel like the book should have had this at the bare minimum), the poems and the corresponding song were included before each poem, or some sort of key in the back with all of the answers. I understand the collection creator wanted people to figure them out themselves but with how many songs Taylor has there were some that were very hard to figure out. I’m fairly familiar with Taylor’s discography but there are some songs that I don’t listen to as much. I ended up finding a list someone had published with the corresponding songs, and I found that super helpful. I felt like I got more out of the poems knowing the song beforehand. I do think this is a really fun idea and I still enjoyed it, but it was annoying to have to pause between each poem to check the website.

I like that I’m able to pick this up and just read a few pages at a time. I love Taylor and will read literally anything Taylor coded

As a swiftie of course, this was such a great collection of poetry. I think any fan of Taylor’s pen would enjoy this.

As a Taylor’s fan I loved this so much, one of my favorite things about this is making the lyrics we already love so much even more relatable.

This anthology combines Taylor Swift and poetry and was a great read. But it wasn’t obvious that they were inspired by Swift’s songs and lyrics if you didn’t already know and I really liked that interpretation and how one song can create different emotions and stories for different people. Not everyone will experience her songs in the same way and seeing that in the form of poetry was well done. However, while I had fun guessing which song inspired each poem, some were harder than others, and would’ve appreciated some sort of list in the back of the book with the songs or even a link to a website.

This is a fun coffee-table book in my home. I enjoy picking it up to peruse a few poems at a time at random. I bought it because of two contributors: Diane Seuss and Gregory Pardlo. I was pleased to discover some new-to-me poets like Kim Addonizio who wrote "Resurrection" for this collection. The best poems are the ones like Addonizio's where you can tell the poet was having fun. The poems I didn't enjoy as much read too much like emulations of Taylor Swift lyrics. The introduction is a great read and not to be missed. Even though I am very well versed in Taylor Swift's lyrics, and I had a hell of a time figuring out the puzzle of what song inspired what poem. I gave up trying, honestly, and the difficulty was a little disappointing as matching songs to poems is what I most looked forward to with this anthology.

Not nearly as close to Taylor swift songs as I thought it would. I knew I wouldn’t love every poem but I’m sad to say that the vast majority really didn’t hit at all

I asked for this one for something different thank I was used to and I am glad I did. It gave me a new appreciation for what is my normal but also allowed me time in a new area to which I want to explore more.

I love both poetry and Taylor swift so I was looking forward to this collection. It was different poets so some I really enjoyed and others not as much. Such is life. Still a lovely collection of poetry.

I'm not a swifite by any means and I don't get the hype behind her music, but I did enjoy reading poet's response to her songs.