Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry

by Ada Limon

24th Poet Laureate of the United States Ada Limón inspires us to see poetry as much more than just words—as a powerful force for healing, a call to action, and a vibrant celebration of humanity’s many voices.

Ada Limón—celebrated poet laureate and 2023 MacArthur fellow—takes us on an inspiring journey into a world where poetry is both a soothing balm for the soul and a spark for transformation. With her blend of accessible yet profound prose, Limón delivers a powerful poetry has the ability to heal, connect, and remind us of our shared humanity.

Limón’s mission to make poetry approachable shines brightly in this slim but impactful book. Recognized as a 2024 Time magazine Woman of the Year for her commitment to bringing poetry into everyday lives, Limón passionately argues that poetry is essential to understanding ourselves—our tenderness, courage, imperfections, and our deep, unshakable worthiness of love.

Drawing from her own experiences as the 24th US poet laureate, Limón shares how poetry connects us not only to each other but to the natural world. This theme is at the heart of her project You Are Here, which celebrates the beauty of our environment and our place in it. Her prose, like her poetry, feels like an open invitation—welcoming readers of all backgrounds to explore the richness of human experience through verse.

Fans of Robin Wall Kimmerer, Matthew Zapruder, or Jesmyn Ward will find a kindred spirit in Against Breaking—which offers a refuge, a reminder of the resilience and beauty found within us and all around us. As Limón writes with heartfelt clarity, “If you need to remember what makes us human, tender, brave, flawed, and worthy of love, you need poetry.”

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Writing, Essays

80 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2026

About the author

Ada Limón is the author of three books of poetry, Lucky Wreck, This Big Fake World, and Sharks in the Rivers. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from New York University. Limón has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and was one of the judges for the 2013 National Book Award in Poetry. She works as a creative writing instructor and a freelance writer while splitting her time between Lexington, Kentucky and Sonoma, California (with a great deal of New York in between). Her new book of poems, Bright Dead Things is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions in 2015.

Reviews

[Kara Taghon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never felt scooped up and held by language before, until reading Limón’s work. Another beautiful reminder of why poetry can heal, open large and small doors, and allow us to look inside, if we choose.

[Ryan Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to learn poetry, this is less than 50 short pages on what poetry is.

Thank you Ada Limon.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ada Limón reads the speech she gave at the end of her term as US Poet Laureate in this short audiobook. She lists all the wonderful reasons people should read poetry, using quotes from poems to back up her views. A delight.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So real, beautiful, and inspiring <3

[Briana · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When you want to create a safe space to stand in, to breathe in, to gather courage, to find your hope again, to find your strength again, you can stand in poetry.”

[Sophie Glad · Rating 3 out of 5]

short n sweet

[Bonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Against Breaking is a slim book that manages to feel both intimate and expansive. Ada Limón writes with the same clarity, warmth, and emotional intelligence that make her poetry so resonant, and here she makes a compelling, generous case for why poetry matters, not as an academic exercise, but as a part of being human.

Drawing on her experience as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, Limón reflects on poetry as a force for connection, healing, and attention. Her prose is accessible without ever being simplistic; it’s thoughtful, inviting, and deeply humane. This is not a book that tells you what poetry should be, but one that gently opens a door and says: come in, this is for you, too.

One of the most moving threads in the book is her insistence on tenderness, not as weakness, but as courage. Limón writes about worthiness, about paying attention to the natural world, and about the way language can tether us to one another in fractured times. Her You Are Here project, which centers place, environment, and belonging, underscores how poetry can reorient us toward care, for the land, for others, and for ourselves.

What I loved most is how welcoming this book feels. It doesn’t demand prior knowledge or reverence for poetry; instead, it meets the reader exactly where they are. Limón’s writing reminds us that noticing is an ethical act, and that beauty and grief often coexist.

Against Breaking is a refuge, a rallying cry, and a reminder. If you’ve ever felt intimidated by poetry, this book will help dissolve that fear. If you already love poetry, it will renew and deepen that love. And if you simply need reassurance that being tender, flawed, and attentive still matters, this book offers that, generously and without pretense.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on April 7, 2026.

[Holly Dyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75// This short book is a publication of Ada Limón’s closing lecture as U.S. Poet Laureate at the Library of Congress in April 2025. She beautifully articulates the need for poetry in our society. Poetry helps us to slow down, pay attention to what’s around us, express sentiments larger than ourselves, find connection and belonging, discover what it truly means to be human, and also to inspire us to take action. I did really enjoy this quote: “But if you feel the need to trust language again, to remember that language could have power, could hold multiple truths, then you need poetry. If you need to be reminded of what makes us human, tender, brave, flawed, and worthy of love, then you need poetry.” I also got a brief glimpse of what Limón’s work as Poet Laureate entailed in promoting the reading and writing of poetry to the country, as well as the current projects that were touched by poems.

I don’t always love the concept of publishing speeches or lectures and calling them a book. This was very short and could be read easily in one sitting, and I felt like it only scratched the tip of the iceberg. I also felt like it would speak more to poets than to readers of poetry, which made me feel like I was not the exact audience. I think this could have been longer, and I would have loved more insight into Limón’s work as Poet Laureate. This did inspire me to go into her backlog, including her anthology YOU ARE HERE.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

In these dark and muddled times, I frequently find myself turning to the words of my favorite poets for comfort, refuge, and sanctuary. What a gift, then, to receive an advance copy of Ada Límon’s slim volume Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry, due to be published in early April 2026.

Lately, I find my emotions live very close to the surface. It doesn’t take much these days, it seems, to reach my tender heart and bring tears to my eyes. Such was the case as I read Ada Límon’s heartfelt words in this, her closing lecture to the Library of Congress as she ended her term as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. What a beautiful case she makes . . . for poetry! Right now. For all of us. As the world we know shifts under our feet, Ada Límon reminds us that poetry can save us with its offer of hope and connection and possibility.

I cannot wait to have a copy of this wonderful volume for my own poetry library. I will read it again and again. And probably cry every time I do.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with an advance copy of Ada Límon’s Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published on April 7, 2026.

5 stars

[McKinzie Payton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry by Ada Limón is a heartfelt reminder that poetry is what makes us human. This book memorializes the closing lecture Limón delivered at the Library of Congress on April 17, 2025, when she completed her tenure as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States.

In her address, Limón talks about not just her achievements as poet laureate—notably "You Are Here", a public poetry initiative that installed poems in National Parks—but also the lessons she learned during her time criss-crossing the continent. She concludes that poetry is a powerful tool for processing personal experiences, as well as a bridge that connects individuals through the emotion and music of words. Limón draws upon her breadth of poetic knowledge and her own love of the art form to share poems that hold meaning for her, from "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus to "Tired" by Langston Hughes, and calls for subversive poetry in the face of the current political climate and the rise of AI.

Against Breaking is a tiny text that packs powerful inspiration for anyone who loves poetry. My only wish is that there could have been more of it.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘It gives me great joy to know people are writing secret poems’

California poet Ada Limón has become an established artist, her award-winning poems appearing in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Tin House, and the American Poetry Review, among others. Her voice is gentle, her words flow like nature, and her thoughts touch memories and expectations so sensitively that she sits beside us, communicating through her memorable poems.

While this book is not a selection of her poems, it is a gentle discussion with the reader about the power and sensitivity of poetry. ‘If we are lucky enough to live a life in poetry, we are never alone – we are never alone because everyone who has ever written is with us…sometimes we even place our words there, tenderly, eagerly, to remain for others to find.’ In reflecting on the experience of being honored as the Poet Laureate of the United States 1922 – 1925, she offers, ‘I had the great fortune to listen to people tell me what poetry means to them.’ And that is what this brief but impressive volume shares – the special place poetry thrives in our lives.

[Nicò]

Powerful!

Ada Limón’s closing lecture after being selected as the 24th Poet Laurette of the United States, Against Breaking: On The Power of Poetry is a must listen for ANYONE who wants to get more into poetry!

Ms. Limón used the 50 minutes she was given as an opportunity to “make a case for poetry”, and make a case she did! Limón pulled out so many quotes from so many poems that by the end of the audiobook I had a list full of poets to go research!

I truly cannot overstate how much Ada Limón’s love for poetry shines through this essay. Her belief that poetry makes us braver, that poetry does the work of opening us up to our feelings, that poetry is a container for the heart. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, and Ada Limòn had some GEMS on why AI Art could never be authentic.

“Poetry is a way of testing for humanity. Individuality. If you’ve ever wondered what someone was thinking, or how they remembered a certain event, or how images unfold in their mind, and what the inside of their thought patterns might look like, then you’ve wondered what their poems might sound like.”

[Sigrun Hodne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admire Ada Limón’s poetry deeply, so I came to Against Breaking with high expectations.

The book offers a sincere and accessible reflection on poetry’s value — its capacity to sustain, to witness, and to connect. There is clarity and warmth here, especially for readers less familiar with poetry.

But I found myself wanting a more searching or distinctive perspective. Many of the reflections remain within well-established ideas about what poetry does, without quite extending or complicating them. Given the precision and originality of Limón’s poems, this feels like a missed opportunity.

A thoughtful book, but one that ultimately sends me back to her poems, where her voice feels sharper and more fully alive.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author gave a speech in 2025, at the end of her time as the U.S. poet laureate, and this short book is that speech. She explains that the power of poetry is its ability to connect to people’s lives, to address their feelings. “Poetry responds to things that are too large to be said, when the feeling is too big.” She applauds people who told her they write poetry, even if it’s just for themselves. I particularly enjoyed her discussion of the need to live a small life, not just seek a big life. Those who enjoy her poetry, or even the poetry of any poet, would appreciate reading her thoughts about why poetry is a part of their lives.

[Ambi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Ada Limón. Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry explores Limón’s time as the 24th US poet laureate and the things she accomplished and learned from her three years in the position. I found this small book to be deeply touching. In a time that feels so divisive, this speech brings connection and hope. Poetry is for the people, something Limón expertly demonstrates here.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ada Limon is a wonderful poet who served as U.S. Poet Laureate for three years. This short book is based on her final speech as she stepped down from that position, a thoughtful insight into the value of poetry, how it fosters connection and wisdom, and how important it is in these perilous times. Highly recommended.

[I received an advanced reader copy via Netgalley. The book will be published April 2026.]

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is the definition of poetry? For me – a group of words, rhyming or not, strung together in a way that makes one feel something. While written in prose, this little book definitely left me with feelings. It calls for us to remember that poetry connects us with one another and with our world asks us to embrace poetry in both intimate and public ways. An excellent, grounding read.

I am grateful to have received an advanced copy to review.

[Lorren · Rating 5 out of 5]

AGAINST BREAKING, the speech Ada Limón gave at the closing of her tenure as poet laureate of the United States, is a beautiful call to action. Quoting a diverse spectrum of poets, Limón beautifully and powerfully makes a case for why poetry matters to everyone. I think I’ll be revisiting these words often—they certainly left me feeling stirred up.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Natalie T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A paean to poetry by the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. Ada Limon captures poetry's ability to create community and heal the spirit; expertly, she summons forth the poet within each reader, whether audacious or shy. Especially in a broken world, she writes, we need poetry--and then she proves her case in 80 brilliant pages.

Highly recommended. The worse you feel, the more you need this book.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way that you can feel Ada Limón's spirit or aura through her work. This is a tiny little book, a speech, filled with so much heart. Reading someone write about/in defense of a thing they believe in is an honor, this book is that. I wish this book was longer and went deeper desperately. I wish she'd expanded on the speech because it feels like there is more to say.

[Jennie Peabody Rhoads · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The right poem can make us recommit to the world.” p39

“[poetry] does not believe in nations, or borders, or cruelty, or power for power’s sake, or wars, or violence, or causing harm; poetry wants us to be our free and best selves, open to wonder and open to making a life that matters—both big and small.” p45

[Coco Keehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this essay by US poet laureate Ada Limon reminds us the power and necessity of poetry. “Sometimes all poetry offers is possibility” and in this life with so much uncertainty this invitation to pay attention is a lyrical call to read and make art because “we have complex feelings and thoughts [that] cannot be summed up.”

[Molly Quinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly beautiful prose on the meaning and importance and value of poetry from Ada Limón. This work was inspired and moving, I think I underlined half the book so many poignant words gifted herein. Absolutely stunning.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.

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

I knew this reading would wreck me. This is Limon’s reading at the Library of Congress after being named U.S. Poet Laureate. I will absolutely buy a hard copy so I can return again and again to the words that capture, magnify, and soothe. Absolutely beautiful and heart-warming.

[Ona Gritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I will come back to for nourishment, wisdom, and inspiration. I plan to put it in the hands of everyone I encounter who loves poetry or who doesn't yet love poetry. It, like its author, is the perfect ambassador.

[Lan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly beautiful particularly in this acute moment. I found myself moved to tears throughout. I look forward to buying a physical copy and gifting to many I love

Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for a complimentary earc in exchange for an honest review.

[Nisa Sommers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an 80 pg read or a 57 min listen. as of today $3.74 on Audible.

A well worth your time read or listen as Ada Limon reads. For those of you, like me, who love poetry or even those of you who are trying to make sense of it in your lives-- this is the listen. You won't be disappointed.

[Christina Vourcos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly Inspirational

This book reminded me why I love poetry and why poetry is so important for poets and readers/listeners. As a Latina poet, I’m thankful to have Ada Limón as an inspiration.

[Michela Kinoshita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attended Ada's talk last night in SF - what a treasure she is. Incredibly inspiring, she is a rock star and we are so lucky to have had her as our 24th U.S. poet laureate.

"If you need to remember what makes us human, tender, brave, flawed, and worthy of love, you need poetry."

[Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book told the story of what a poem is without actually defining what a poem is because a poem can be many things.