I accept Arthur Sze donations anywhere in the Albuquerque metro with free pickup — the whole collection: the National Book Award winner Sight Lines, Compass Rose, The Ginkgo Light, Quipu, The Redshifting Web, his translations, and the early Copper Canyon and small-press books. You don't sort or price anything. Bring it all, including slim signed volumes you might not recognize; the signed and small-press firsts are collectible, so I check everything and the rest funds New Mexico literacy.
Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project
Arthur Sze is one of the major living American poets and a deeply New Mexican one — long based in Santa Fe, a longtime teacher at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and the city's first poet laureate. He won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2019. A Sze shelf is contemporary and quietly collectible, especially the signed and small-press copies. When one gets cleared, most people just want it to reach a reader who'll value it — and don't want to give away a signed first. That's exactly what I'm for: I take the whole thing, free, and I check every book.
What I take: all of it
The major collections
Sight Lines (2019 National Book Award), Compass Rose, The Ginkgo Light, Quipu, The Redshifting Web, and the newer books — in any edition.
The early & small-press books
The early Copper Canyon Press titles, the small-press and limited printings, and his translations such as The Silk Dragon.
Appearances & any condition
The journals and anthologies he appears in, worn paperbacks, later printings, and reading copies — bring whatever's on the shelf.
You don't have to know what's valuable
Here's the reason to call rather than dump: with a major living poet, signed copies and small-press firsts are collected. Signed firsts, the early Copper Canyon editions, and the National Book Award winner Sight Lines are sought after. To most people these look like any slim book of poems, and they get given away for a dollar. You don't have to learn which printing is which — bring the whole shelf and I'll recognize the signed and small-press firsts, protect them, and keep the reading copies in circulation, with any hidden value staying in the book economy here in the state where Sze writes.
Why donate instead of selling it yourself
For a confirmed signed first or a scarce small-press edition, selling on your own can pay well. For the rest — later printings, paperbacks, anthologies — listing each slim book is more work than it's worth, which is why so many poetry shelves get dumped intact. Donating handles it in one call: no research, no pricing, no listings, no shipping, free pickup at your door, reading copies to new readers, and a genuine signed first recognized and put to good use. Here's where donated books go.
How free pickup works
Call or text 702-496-4214 (or schedule online), tell me roughly how much there is and where you are, and we set a time. I come to you and load it all. I cover Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Corrales, the East Mountains, and the surrounding metro, and I handle whole-house and estate cleanouts regularly.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I donate Arthur Sze books in Albuquerque?
Right here — free pickup anywhere in the metro for the whole collection: Sight Lines, Compass Rose, the early books, the translations. Call or text 702-496-4214.
Are his books worth anything?
Signed copies, small-press firsts, and the NBA winner Sight Lines are collectible. They look ordinary — bring it all and let me check.
Worn copies and anthologies too?
Yes — later printings, paperbacks, the journals and anthologies he appears in. Just don't throw any of it out first.
Cite This Guide
Eldred, J. (June 2026). Donate Arthur Sze Books in Albuquerque — Free Pickup. New Mexico Literacy Project.
https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/donate-arthur-sze-books-albuquerque
Licensed under CC BY 4.0.