In a poem called “Mortality,” two-term United States poet laureate Ada Limón writes, “When a poet says, ‘Let me / be clear,’ we are never clear.” Up for debate, but what is evident is the lucidity and beauty of her work over six poetry collections: Lucky Wreck, This Big Fake World, Sharks in the Rivers, Bright Dead Things, The Carrying, and The Hurting Kind. Certain works from these collections appear now in her breathtaking Startlement: New and Selected Poems, along with around 20 new poems. Startlement allows us to trace the evolution of Limón’s aesthetic over nearly two decades, from characters longing for love to work that seems to slide back the superficies of the world, allowing us to see it more fully, more particularly, lured forward by the passionate, wholehearted energy of striking lines, intelligently enjambed. Read aloud and be awed, for instance, by the sonics and depth of feeling in “Overjoyed,” in which Limón writes, “Let me be the first to admit, when I / Come across some jewel of pleasure, I too want / To squeeze that thing until even its seedy heart / evaporates like ethanol, want to throw my / bird-bones into the brush-fire until, / half-blind, all I can hear is the sound / of wings in the relentlessly delighted air.”
POET ADA LIMÓN IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN FREEMAN
- When: Thursday, November 20, 2025, 5 p.m. Pacific time.
- Format: Freeman will lead a free hour-long conversation with Limón, which will include a reading by her and questions from the audience. Joining them will be special guest Matthew Zapruder, author of six collections of poetry including I Love Hearing Your Dreams. Produced by Alta Journal for streaming on Zoom.
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Excerpt: ‘Startlement’
Read the poem “On Earth As It Is On Earth” from Ada Limón’s Startlement: New and Selected Poems, the California Book Club’s November selection. By Ada Limón
Why You Should Read This: ‘Startlement’
David L. Ulin explores how Ada Limón’s Startlement gathers new and selected poems that balance despair with joy, identity with nature, and grief with wonder. By David L. Ulin
Why I Write: Toward Belonging
From her California hometown, Ada Limón reflects on poetry, memory, and belonging—writing as a way to connect, to remember, and to truly exist. By Ada Limón
Poems of Experience Backlit by Intimacy
Ada Limón’s new collection, The Hurting Kind, brims with sensory richness and shows her to be a lover of many things: animals, people, and love itself. By John Freeman
Poem: Calling Things What They Are
Inspired by nature, Sonoma native Ada Limón gets honest with herself. By Ada Limón
Poem: The First Lesson
In one of three poems published in Alta’s Spring 2021 issue, Ada Limón learns to watch closely. By Ada Limón
Poem: Stillwater Cove
Ada Limón captures the agonizing wait atop coastal cliffs to catch a glimpse of the elusive whale. By Ada Limón
