[08/11/26] Armantrout, Rae: Safe Rooms

Wesleyan University Press, paperback

Publication Date: August 11, 2026

Publisher Marketing:

Poetry of the shifting architecture of a world we think we know

Acclaimed author Rae Armantrout's remarkable new collection Safe Rooms, explores the undercurrents of modern life with an unflinching eye on human nature, social malaise, and the unsettling ways in which we attempt to protect ourselves from a world that continually undermines our sense of safety. As the title poem says: "your thoughts /roar and echo//around you--originating/god knows where.// You try to plug your ears/but you are an ear/ that can't stop listening." Through poems that examine our darker impulses--our tendencies to self-destruct, to grapple with envy, and to navigate the intricate web of family dynamics--Armantrout captures the complex, often contradictory ways in which we search for meaning and connection. Her work holds a mirror to the forces shaping us, both intimate and vast, showing that the so-called "safe rooms" we construct are fragile, temporary shelters, not havens from the chaos that surrounds us.