A Suit or a Suitcase: Poems

by Maggie Smith

Instant New York Times bestselling author and poet Maggie Smith returns with a new collection of poems on the sometimes-blurry distinction between mind and body, and how the self shifts and moves through time and space.

The title of Maggie Smith’s new collection comes from the eponymous

You ask what I’ll miss about this life.
Everything but cruelty, I think.
But you want one specific thing,
so here—I’ll miss my body. I’ll miss
its companionship, how it’s traveled
with me, never leaving me—& by me,
I mean my mind.
my body hasn’t traveled with me.
I’ve traveled inside it.
Do I wear it, or does it carry me?
Is the body a suit, or a suitcase?

Within, poems turn over the strange relationships between the body and the mind, the self and the world. With her signature tenderness and clarity of observation, and with stunning swoops of imagination, Smith considers—and reconsiders—what it is to be Does one life matter in the grand scheme of space and time? How can it be that we are the same people we were ten, twenty, or thirty years ago, but also different people? And could there be more to life, just beyond the borders of we can experience?

Each poem is an ode to the power of our minds, and proof that both a life and a self, whether within a suit or a suitcase, is infinitely expandable.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 24, 2026

About the author

Maggie Smith is the author of the national bestseller Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change (One Signal/Simon & Schuster 2020); Good Bones (Tupelo Press, 2017); The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (Tupelo Press 2015), winner of the Dorset Prize, selected by Kimiko Hahn; and Lamp of the Body (Red Hen Press 2005), winner of the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award; and three prizewinning chapbooks.

Smith's poems and essays have appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Poetry, Image, The Best American Poetry, The Paris Review, AGNI, Guernica, Brevity, the Washington Post, The Gettysburg Review, Ploughshares, and many other journals and anthologies. In 2016 her poem “Good Bones” went viral internationally and has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. In April 2017 the poem was featured on the CBS primetime drama Madam Secretary.

A 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, Maggie Smith works as freelance writer and editor. She is an Editor at Large at the Kenyon Review and is also on the faculty of Spalding University's low-residency MFA program.

Reviews

[TheConnieFox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an incredible collection of poems by Maggie Smith! They are very thought provoking and emotional. These poems are beautifully written and unique. They deal with the body, mind, memory and identity. This book of poetry is under 200 pages long and I found them to be easy to read and understood. While I think they are all brilliant, my favorite one was “A Suit or a Suitcase”. The literally tropes and themes were fantastic! I think readers who love reading poems that are powerful and emotional would really enjoy this book! I rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Maggie Smith and Atria Books | Washington Square Press for this digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is expected to be published on March 24, 2026!

[Mai H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of poems. As always, some resonated more than others. My favorite was the titular poem.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Washington Square Press

[Sam’s Sapphic Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a collection of poems. I actually read most of them more than once because they were just incredible. The mind, the body, the memories we look back on.

These poems really resinated with me, the type of thoughts that come late at night, when there’s no noise to disturb your feel thoughts.

It makes you wonder, what is life? The decisions we make, the lives we live, does it truly matter in the grand scheme of things? We look back at our memories and reminisce on the past. What about the future? What about at the end of everything?

Maggie Smith created a wonderful, mind-opening collection.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

[Maven_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Suit or a Suitcase: Poems by Maggie Smith is a thoughtful, beautifully resonant poetry collection that meditates on the intimate, mysterious relationship between body and mind, the shape of the self over time, and how our lived experiences both expand and confine us, using clear, lyrical language that feels both conversational and deeply wise. The title poem asks unforgettable questions about identity, mortality, memory, and what we carry with us through life, wondering if we “wear” our body like a suit or if it is more like a suitcase that contains a lifetime of internal journeys.

What struck me most about this collection is how Maggie Smith writes with startling tenderness about what it means to inhabit a human life, shifting effortlessly between philosophical reflection and grounded emotional insight, so that even abstract questions feel felt in the bones, heart, and breath of lived experience. Her poems turn over big ideas about time, self, and transformation without ever losing the sense of everyday mystery, and there is a generosity in her voice that made me revisit lines again just to feel their echo in my own body and thoughts. The way she balances clarity with imaginative depth made me feel seen and gently challenged at the same time: I could sense both the finite fragility of life and a luminous possibility in the spaces between moments. I liked the collection for its grace, clarity, and emotional breadth, with voices like Roxane Gay and Diane Seuss highlighting the precision and confidence in Smith’s poetry that makes each line feel purposeful and alive.

Rating: 4 out of 5. I’m giving A Suit or a Suitcase this score because it quietly lingers in the mind long after reading, offering poems that feel like wise companions on questions of self and existence, beautifully balancing intimacy, wonder, and gracious reflection. If you love poetry that feels both personal and philosophical, this collection will likely stay with you like a soft, persistent echo.

[Laur · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique collection of thought-provoking poetry that enhances and encourages reflection and exploration of one’s own mind and body.

My thanks to NetGalley, Maggie Smith, and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
4 Stars.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to synthesize how much I loved this collection into a review that doesn't gush too much and honestly I'm throwing in the towel at this point. Here are the main points:

This collection is SO GOOD.

I got goosebumps in the middle of a Florida summer while reading these.

I love how Maggie Smith loves Columbus, and her children, and how she's able to find magic in the mundane.

I will return to these poems again and again.

-Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication. What a gift!

[Lychee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly cannot get over how gorgeous this book cover is. Definitely a huge deciding factor in me requesting.
I don’t know how to rate poetry, so instead, here’s a few of my favorites:
- The Score
- Vision (only bc I am reading this on my phone in the dark in bed when I should be sleeping and I too open and close each eye to watch my vision shift back and forth)
- Self portraits as an incomplete list of mysteries
- Three thoughts after crossing nameless creek

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-ARC

[Richelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie Smith’s upcoming collection of poems serves as both a continuation of her fine work for those who are already fans, and an excellent starting point for new readers who want to delve into her work.

This collection revolves around the mind and body - how they influence one another, and how one’s sense of self can change over a lifetime. How does the passage of time shape our memories and how we create meaning? How do we experience others and how do others experience who we are? Smith’s poems focus on those questions in beautifully rendered vignettes of ordinary actions. But there was a bold rawness to these poems that I feel is missing from her earlier work. These poems feel braver, more willing to make a statement.

I didn’t like this collection as much as Goldenrod but it’s still a solid 4.5 stars. “Beside Myself,” “The Before Picture,” and the title poem were my favorites in this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Dr. Amanda]

My favorite poems in this collection were “Time-Stamped” and “Self Portrait as an Incomplete List of Mysteries”. Not rating because I don’t know how to rate poetry.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie Smith has such a beautiful way of sharing feelings and scenes that seem so specific and yet are universal. I love the way she sees the world and these poems felt plucked from my own heart.

This collection explores the connection between mind and body, and the different versions of a person throughout the eras of a life. It's reflective and contemplative, and makes you ruminate on the meaning of the life we're leading, in this moment and the next, and then whatever might come after.

My favourite poem was Time-Stamped:

Time-Stamped

There is a revision of me that lives
in the future, watching me from the future,

which makes me a prototype,
an earlier version, the one she thinks of now.

She looks back at me and at the life
I live in the house she must think of

as 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, and at my children—
her children-still lap-small

and sticky-cheeked. She watches us
the way I watch old, time-stamped versions

of myself, the roughest drafts, feeling
I'd slit a stranger's throat for the clean slate

that was mine—the slate I wanted
only to write and write on.

She watches from the future
to remind me I am not finished,

not as fleshed out as I feel.
I must be full of blanks she'll know

how to fill, and she'll fill them.
She looks back at me, and someone

looks back at her, and I am watching
every version of myself behind me:

never overridden or replaced
but saved, each of us saved.

[Mark 🌹 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sincere and beautiful collection of thought-provoking poetry that encourages reflection and exploration of one’s own mind, body and identity. Much of the themes and tropes were great. It’s a great introductory of poetry for anyone who’d like to get into the genre.

Much thanks to NetGalley, Maggie Smith, and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion of 4 stars.

[ella (luniellar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry is quickly becoming my go-to for breaks in between my reads and this one from Maggie Smith was perfect for me. I read her collection on People Project this year and was really looking forward to this. She did an amazing job translating the strangeness of the body and mind and the self and the world. I love that that it explores the limits and stretches the limitless of the mind.

Thank you to Atria/Washington Square Press for an early copy of this book.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie Smith has a way of making me consider everyday experiences that make me better. Her words and ideas are gorgeous, and as I was reading, I kept making note of poems I'd love to use in my classroom. I can't wait to purchase a copy in March when it's officially published.

This book was an e-arc given by Netgalley in exchange for my own opinions.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

And honestly, I loved it. I think it’s Maggie’s best work yet. (Heads up - I know her in real life).

Poetry is not usually my jam, but these words of hers spoke to me. Perhaps because I DO know her, or because we live in the same town, and we’re about the same age going through similar life experiences with kids and parents. Regardless of why, this is a book I’d come back to again and again. Five stars.

[Brigid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am incredibly grateful for this beautiful collection of poems by Maggie Smith. These poems made me smile, cry, wonder. There is such richness to her thoughts and words that I would read the same poem over and over and each time something new spoke to me, made me stumble, made me feel. I can't wait for the world to read this. She is a master at her art. The cover art is additionally gorgeous.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[BooksAsDreams (Tiffany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Speechless. Must read. Thank you @netgalley!

[Kat Cav · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an ARC of this. Absolutely soul-rending. I love this little book of poetry. The poems make me feel alive and not alone.

[Lynn C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful and poignant. For anyone who has struggled with divorce, motherhood, and finding their place in the world. I'm not a huge poetry fan, but this was nice to read while sitting on a bench outside at sunset. I recommend you read this book of poems somewhere you can feel at peace.

Thank you to NetGalley and Washington Square Press for the ARC!

[Debs · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I won an advanced readers copy of this collection from Simon & Schuster; many thanks!*

As a long-time admirer of Maggie Smith’s poetry, I’ve always thought of her as an “earth” poet, meaning that her poems feel very rooted in the soil for me. Which is why it surprised me when the two poems I gravitated to most strongly on this new collection center on water—“Triptych” & “For years I lived.” I’m looking forward to returning to Smith’s previous collections and rereading them in contrast to this upcoming offering.

[Shannon Mccann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sad to say I didn’t really enjoy this one. It’s the first I’ve read from what I have heard was a great poet. My expectations for it were high and they fell flat. The prose felt very pretentious and while I really to much of the themes contained, I felt myself rolling my eyes often.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Suit or a Suitcase is a reflective, emotionally grounded poetry collection that explores identity, movement, choice, and what it means to carry parts of yourself through change.

What worked exceptionally well for me was the clarity of the poems' voices. The collection balances intimacy and restraint, allowing meaning to surface through imagery rather than explanation. The titular metaphor—what we choose to present versus what we actually carry—threads through the poems thoughtfully, creating cohesion without forcing a single narrative arc.

Many of the poems linger on moments of transition: cultural, professional, personal. I appreciated how the language remains accessible while still offering depth, allowing the poems to resonate quietly rather than demanding attention. There's a sense of reflection here that rewards slower reading and rereading.

Not every poem landed equally for me, which is why this sits just shy of five stars, but as a collection, it feels intentional and emotionally honest. The strongest pieces are the ones that trust simplicity—letting image and implication do the work.

⭐ 4 stars — thoughtful, cohesive, and quietly resonant.

[Mae B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the poems didn’t really click but the ones that did hit hard. Still thinking about them.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. A huge Thankyou to the Author, Publisher, amd Sponsors of the giveaway. This was a gem of a book full of beautiful poetry.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early review copy.

Maggie Smith asks:  How do you experience the world?  How do I experience the world? Do you experience it with your mind, or your body?  Is your body a suit you wear, or a suitcase that carries you?  Do we experience the same world?

She asks, and she answers.

These poems will be accessible to everyone, but perhaps will resonate most strongly with those at mid-life, with half a lifetime to look back on and half a lifetime possibly yet ahead.

Here is a fragment from her "Self Portrait as an Incomplete List of Mysteries"

How I’m the same person I was at seven, at seventeen, at twenty-seven, at thirty-seven, and now, and how I’m not the same at all, not copy-pasted year to year to year. 

What rodeo I’m on. I’ve lost track of my rodeos. 

How some things that are true do not stay true. The trueness wears off, like gold

This volume, like Smith’s earlier works, is chock full of random and oddly relatable thoughts, such as (from "Three Thoughts After Crossing Nameless Creek"):

 Once, as a child, you tried to imagine 
nothing—tried like hell to empty 
your mind’s shameful hoard. 
But each time you had it, 
you labeled it—nothing— 
and that was something, 
and you had to start again.

Yes! That has happened to me, too! It is impossible for me to truly empty my mind, but I’ve tried.  And it’s reassuring to know I’m not alone, neither in the trying nor in the failing. 

And there’s that odd sense of displacement and confusion when you step out of a museum (or a movie or okay, anything transporting) and you’re faced with plain old real life again, from "Installation":

When you leave the museum 
of contemporary art, opening 
the doors to midday, you may need 
a few minutes to reset context: 
the bike shackled to the sign 
is only a bike, the sign only a sign, 
no small white exhibit labels. …

She goes on to point out the exquisite beauty of the quotidian world that isn't always acknowledged, “as if sunlight as sunlight isn’t enough.”  Often the value of an art museum exhibit is to make us stop and really look at what we see every day.  It seems obvious, but we all need that reminder.

And I think that’s what the best poetry is, it’s reassurance that all those crazy thoughts inside your head have been thought by other people, too.  

I felt like I needed to include quotes, but please note I read an ARC and it's possible some small changes will be made before publication.

[Margaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maggie Smith’s A Suit or a Suitcase: Poems carefully examines the self as both container and contained, an entity shaped by, and shaping, its journey through the world. The collection creates a consistent contemplative space, perfectly preluded by its cover art, which is a great way to represent that liminal space between being your mind and your body.

The collection’s greatest strength is its structure, which provides a reliable foundation for the reader to ponder. This steadiness allows Smith’s vulnerability and exacting tenderness to land with focus, particularly in poems that challenge our basic assumptions about being a being. At its best, her work draws together complex feelings into a very personal and precise image, then lets it expand in the reader’s mind long after.

The standout for me was “Haibun Sun,” because it represents the collection's most dynamic and engaging mode of telling. Here, Smith’s contravention of form and movement feels really essential and liberated. It is a poem I returned to repeatedly for its transportive quality.

“Window Seat” and “For years I lived” similarly succeeded for me, brilliantly blurring the boundary between interior/exterior to create connective tissue between.

The collection maintains a steady, reflective tempo, and consistency is a deliberate and effective choice here, but my personal reading experience was one of lesser relatability. I found myself most captivated by the poems that, like those mentioned above, embraced more formal daring or kinetic imagery. Some pieces, though clearly carefully composed, were significantly less striking for me, but may resonate with others with experiences that more closely match.

In summary, A Suit or a Suitcase: Poems is a thoughtful and coherent exploration. Smith's skill is evident in the collection's calm architecture, trust in the reader, and its moments of breathtaking transport. I finished the book with an appreciation for Smith’s craft and in anticipation of reading her other works. I'm hoping she continues to lean into the daring energy!

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of Maggie Smith’s work, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC edition of her new and soon-to-be-published poetry collection, A Suit or a Suitcase: Poems (Atria Publishing - Washington Square Press, expected March 24, 2026).

I always find Maggie Smith’s poetry to be accessible, relatable, and down-to-earth. She takes her own keen observations and experiences of life and makes them universal, human . . . something for everyone.

As with most poetry collections, I enjoyed some poems more than others. That always has to do with my state of mind, as a reader. I find that poems I particularly relate to one day may not even be on my radar another. For me, that is the gift of a poetry collection! You never quite read the same collection twice - even if you are reading the same collection twice.

My favorite poem in this collection (for today, at least) is For years I lived. But, really, there are so many fabulous poems - poems that speak to me directly and deeply - that I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of the actual, published collection for myself . . . so I can dog-ear and mark up my own personal copy as much as I’d like.

(Also . . . the cover is perfect.)

Thank you to Atria | Washington Square Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The collection will be published on March 24, 2026.

5 stars

[Bonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie Smith’s A Suit or a Suitcase is an introspective, tender, and at times disorienting collection that blurs the lines between mind and body, past and present, self and world. Smith has a gift for crafting images that feel both fragile and sharp-edged, offering moments of clarity that catch you off guard. Many of the poems linger in that liminal space between what we know and what we can only guess at—asking questions about identity, continuity, and the limits of human perception.

That said, while the language is often gorgeous and contemplative, the book can feel somewhat diffuse. The thematic repetition sometimes risks dulling its impact, and a few poems felt more like sketches than fully realized pieces. Still, when Smith’s words and ideas land, they land well, and the best moments have the kind of quiet resonance that stays with you long after you’ve closed the book.

Not every poem here will speak to every reader, but for those who appreciate meditative, thought-tinged verse and a willingness to explore uncertainty, this is a collection worth spending time with—whether you’re in a suit, a suitcase, or somewhere in between. Three and a half stars rounded up.

Thank you to Washington Square Press and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on March 24, 2026.

[skyeslibrary]

When you lay your head on my thigh, when you kiss the backs of my knees, listen.
I’m trying to tell you what I’ll miss— everything but cruelty, but mostly this.

I don’t pick up books of poetry very often, but whenever I’m do, I’m reminded that I should do it more. A Suit or a Suitcase is a lyrical observation of self and the evolution of being.
—

notable quotes:

When you lay your head on my thigh, when you kiss the backs of my knees, listen. I’m trying to tell you what I’ll miss— everything but cruelty, but mostly this.
_
Is this what they call plot? This daily picking up of the same things—
_
Each day is a note I jot down under the day before.
_
Self-Portrait as an Incomplete List of Mysteries:

What rodeo I’m on. I’ve lost track of my rodeos.

How some things that are true do not stay true. The trueness wears off, like gold plating.

Why our souls are housed in these containers that rot, and why we haven’t yet inherited—evolved into—a more durable design.

How I could have been anyone, but I am this.
—
A life does what water does: It goes.

—

thank you to Atria Books for the gifted review copy!
—

♡ find me on Instagram!

[Glenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the title poem Maggie Smith contemplates the nature of her body as a fellow traveler, something always with her; hence the question: Is a body a suit or a suitcase? Do we wear our bodies like we might wear a suitcase, or is a body something we carry, what we pack as we journey. I’ve read this poem numerous times since receiving an advanced publication copy of Smith’s forthcoming collection and recommend the collection for this one verse alone.

Fortunately, the collection offers other gems. such as the first poem, “Detail.” This verse reads as an invitation to look beyond what one finds on the surface: “You’re the kind who looks at a painting / and wonders what’s happening beyond,” signals readers to delve deeper into art rather than merely read or see what’s on the page.

Readers of Smith’s prior works intuitively know there’s often depth to a poem that might seem simple at first. That’s the nature of life the poet seems to be saying in this new collection.

There’s a full circle moment at the end, as though we e been on a journey together, in which the poet, speaking of her children, writes, “I call them back to me.” It’s an acknowledgment of life as story, one with unknown plot lines. “I didn’t know / what any of them / any of us, would become.” That’s a line, a story, all moms can relate to.

[Amira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this collection felt like opening a diary I didn’t know I had written. The language is unadorned, almost whisper-soft, but beneath every plain word there is a pulse of metaphor that lingers in the mind. The author does not hide behind complicated phrasing; instead, she trusts her own tenderness to carry the weight of meaning.

What struck me most is how her sensitivity is not weakness but vision. She notices the smallest gestures—the silence between sentences, the way light bends through a window, the ache in an ordinary object—and gives them the dignity of symbols. Each poem becomes a mirror that reflects both her inner landscape and the hidden corners of my own.

Though the book is easy to read in one sitting, it resists being put away. The poems unfold slowly in memory, revealing new shades of feeling each time I return. They remind me that sensitivity, when embraced fully, is a kind of strength—the strength to see what others overlook, to feel what others bury.

For women like me, who carry too much inside but often lack the courage to speak it aloud, this book is a companion. It says softly: your vulnerability is your power.