Poem in Which I Try to Be Social

Denise Duhamel’s most recent books of poetry are Pink Lady (2025), Second Story (2021), and Scald (2017), all from University of Pittsburgh Press. Blowout (Pittsburgh, 2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She served as guest editor for The Best American Poetry 2013. The recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, she is Distinguished University Professor in the MFA program at Florida International University in Miami. (updated 6/2026)