In the Middle of a Better World
Poems
Central Avenue Publishing · Print & ebook · February 3, 2026
What do we risk by living our most authentic lives?
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- Who it’s for
- A formally inventive queer collection holds elegy and battle cry in a bright, joyous register.
- Themes
- Love and identity, Desire, Human connection and community
- Genres
- LGBTQ+ Poetry, Love Poetry, Poetry About Death
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Love Poetry.
EuphoriaF. S. Yousaf51% match
Someone Somewhere MaybeSophie Diener50% matchAlso shares Poetry About Death
Aggregated DiscontentHarron Walker50% match
The Natural Order of ThingsDonika Kelly60% matchAlso shares LGBTQ+ Poetry
EcstasyAlex Dimitrov59% matchAlso shares LGBTQ+ Poetry
Joy Is My Middle NameSasha Debevec-McKenney59% match
Grand TourElisa Gonzalez57% matchAlso shares LGBTQ+ Poetry
Gospel of a Whole SunKaterina Jeng57% matchAlso shares LGBTQ+ Poetry
For younger readers: The New Queer Conscience, Every Star That Falls, Secret of Me,the
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What do we risk by living our most authentic lives? More importantly, what do we gain? In the Middle of a Better World is a queer guide to love and identity, a collection both formally inventive and infused with a bright, shimmering imagination. Part elegy, part battle cry, this highly anticipated new collection by Grant Chemidlin is unabashedly joyous in its exploration of desire, human connection, and community—those we’re born into and those we build ourselves.
Elegy and Joy
A formally inventive queer collection holds elegy and battle cry in a bright, joyous register.
Come here for
- Poems on desire, identity, and the communities we build
Expect
- A mix of elegy, defiance, and unabashed joy
Where it sits
| LGBTQ+ Poetry | 96% |
|---|---|
| Love Poetry | 87% |
| Poetry About Death | 29% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- American Poetry
- LGBTQ+ Poetry
- Love Poetry
- Family Poems
Show all 5 publisher categories
- Inspirational Poetry
- Authors
- Grant Chemidlin
- Publisher
- Central Avenue Publishing
- Published
- February 3, 2026
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Love and identity · Desire · Human connection and community
- Reading lane
- American Poetry