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Five Poetry Picks

The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry
by Kim Addonizio, Dorianne Laux - 1997
This book is Linda's all-time favorite. Craft, technique, tweaks, chirps, & flutters...she wouldn't know what to do without this one. There are three main sections: "Subjects for Writing" (e.g. death, the erotic), "The Poet's Craft" (metaphor, rhyme), and "The Writing Life" (self-doubt, writer's block); four separate appendixes list other writing texts, anthologies, marketing tips, and electronic resources. Addonizio and Laux are both well-published poets, and very familiar with the poetry "scene." They're both young, but kind, knowledgeable, and kreative. Great tool.

In the Palm of Your Hand:The Poet's Portable Workshop
by Steve Kowit - 1995
Every poet - as well as any writer - has their own method of getting that bird in the hand, rather than beating around the bush. This is another one of Linda's favorite books for chewing through miscellaneous crap to get to the essentials. Kowit employs more than 100 poems and excerpts to illustrate his discussions on everything from metaphor to meter to metaphysics. Working your way through this book--and it is work--is like sitting in on a terrific creative-writing seminar, minus the criticism (both constructive and destructive) of fellow students. If you go by the book, you'll have written at least 69 poems by the end.

The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide
by Robert Pinsky - 1999
We have Pinsky's genius. This little book as a great tool to think about the sounds of poetry - to Linda, is more important than finding a word rhyming with "latte." Moving through discussions of syntax and line, meter and rhyme (or lack thereof), Pinsky enlists both the usual suspects (Shakespeare, Frost, Hardy, Eliot, Bishop) and some less customary ones (Gilbert & Sullivan, Louise Gluck, and the splendid James McMichael) to make his points. While this book is definitely opinionated, Pinsky's on-the-fly commentary causes us to see the poetry he chooses in a new light.

The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics
by Lewis Turco - 2000
In our opinion, this book - the third edition - is better than the critics suggest, as each form is contained on one page as much as possible, making the book an excellent reference guide to classical poetic forms. The language of origin of the form, the basis of its metrical scheme (syllablic, accentual etc), a description of the metric and rhyme schemes and a very clear notation illustrating the scheme are included. Variants are cross-referenced or included. Rather than including examples the book gives a bibliography of examples referring to poems easily obtained in standard anthologies. That's ok - because otherwise the book would be three times the size and probably three times the price as well.

Poetic Rhythm: An Introduction
by Derek Attridge - 1995
Poetic Rhythm builds on the knowledge and experience of the rhythms of the spoken word, nursery rhymes, song and rap, moving from basic questions about the rhythms of spoken English to the elaborate achievements of past and present poets. Terminology is straightforward and there are frequent practical exercises. Poetic Rhythm will help readers of English poetry experience and enjoy its power, subtlety and diversity, and will serve as an invaluable tool for those who write or discuss poetry in English. Note: This is about English poetic rhythm (!). In our opinion it's the best book on the market for this topic.