Third Man Books is very happy to release erica lewis’ book of poems mary wants to be a superwoman. The notes are letters, the sounds are words, the rhythm is in the linebreaks, the book is playing right next to the turntable, Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder shaking the room. Each poem is a response to a Wonder song, and every poem is a tribute and exploration of lewis’s relationship with her mother, Mary.

Third Man Books is ready to take sides, and we’re choosing Nashville poet Kendra DeColo. Her new book, My Dinner With Ron Jeremy, is unlike any other in its vulnerability and absolute fearlessness. “DeColo’s work is ferocious and tender."—Bitch Magazine

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said “life is pain.” Poet Sampson Starkweather says PAIN: The Board Game. Four printing presses in Nashville, Tennessee, refused the book due to “objectionable content.” You will laugh if you read these poems. TMB is excited and honored to have finally found a printer courageous enough to print this book full of such controversial heart-fullness. “Not only thrillingly accessible, not only deeply thought-provoking, but also, and without exaggeration, historically important."—The Huffington Post

ACKNOWLEDGE collects poems from the seven years that The Contributors’ poetry section has published. The writers are the unhoused vendors of the street paper. The Contributor is a Nashville treasure, and the poems in ACKNOWLEDGE put eyes on their work, and most importantly, the displaced persons they work for. What else is poetry here for, other than to give voice?

THE HIDDEN WATER SPECIAL EDITION includes two books: Copper Canyon’s 730+ page What About This and Third Man Books 200+ page Hidden Water. The boxset is the definitive collection of poet Frank Stanford and includes two broadsides featuring Stanford’s original artwork, plus a custom notepad based on the pad Stanford used to write his poems while at work as a land surveyor.

Edited by Michael Wiegers and Chet Weise, Hidden Water: From the Frank Stanford Archives is a collection of the poet’s unpublished poems, drafts, plus never before seen photos, and never heard before audio. The collection also included extensive correspondences between Stanford, Allen Ginsberg, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Alan Dugan, and more. “Stanford’s voice is as clear, plain and death-obsessed as ever: ‘I wandered I sang / I made promises to death and I kept them / so having done / with my work in this world / I dove into that pool.’” —The Houston Chronicle