Poet Craft
I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose,—words in their best order; poetry,—the best words in their best order. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Over the next few months, I expect to be adding titles and other resources to this list. Here are a few favorites to get things started…
Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School (Heinemann, 1999) and![]()
For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry (Heinemann, 1989), both by Georgia Heard, are wonderful books about teaching, writing, and encouraging poetry in your own life and the lives of your students. I’ve found chapter 4 in Awakening the Heart, on the meaning and music toolboxes, to be particularly helpful in my own study of the “sense and song” of poetry.
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How to Write Poetry by Paul Janeczko (Scholastic, 1999) is another favorite. I especially love the POETCRAFT sections on topics such as “Sound,” and “Creating Images.” Janeczko also includes tips from poets, suggested reading, and short ” Try This…” prompts.
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Poem-Making: Ways to Begin Writing Poetry (HarperCollins Publishers, 1991) by Myra Cohn Livingston covers an enormous amount of ground in short, easy-to-read chapters. I suppose, like How to Write Poetry, this book was written for younger students of poetry. But I found it to be an easy and concise primer on some poetry basics such as: voices of poetry, sound, rhyme, rhythm and metrics, form, and figures of speech. If you’re just getting started in poetry, this is a must have.
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Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out (HarperCollins Publishers, 2002) and![]()
What A Writer Needs (Heinemann 1993) are just two of a number of books on my shelves by Ralph Fletcher. As a writing teacher and author/poet, Fletcher brings practical knowledge of students and the art of teaching to the page. While Poetry Matters is geared more toward the student reader, I discovered plenty of inspiration for my own writing journey in What a Writer Needs.
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A Poetry Handbook (Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994) by Mary Oliver must be considered a primer for those looking for a succinct and fundamental understanding of some of the basics of reading, understanding, and writing poetry. One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from the first chapter. It’s a bit too long to quote here, but I’ve written about it and will include another snippet to pique your interest: “Writing a poem…is a kind of possible love affair between something like the heart (that courageous but also shy factory of emotion) and the learned skills of the conscious mind.
I've lived and traveled around the world, but now make my home in California.
By day, I teach; evenings and many weekends, I write.
My teaching, reading, and writing eventually led to a degree in Language and Literacy, and later, an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.