Making Poems: Forty Poems with Commentary by the Poets
(State University of New York Press, 2010)
This diverse collection of poems and companion essays by forty nationally and internationally known poets allows readers to experience the creative process through the eyes and voice of each poet. No matter how often we are told that revision is an essential component of poetic composition, it can be difficult to resist the temptation to think of the poem as having sprung spontaneously, Athena-like, from the writer’s head. By exposing readers to the finished product as well as the poet’s own account of the poem’s creation, Making Poems offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on the poetic process that will fascinate both beginning and established writers. The book also affords poetry instructors an opportunity to demonstrate to their students the ways in which poems can originate from seemingly mundane and unlikely sources.
Praise for Making Poems
"A valuable addition to one's personal library for all writers and readers of poetry, this anthology finds its rightful position among the tradition of entertaining and enlightening books in which authors discuss poetic craft or the creative process with a cogent blend of practical wisdom and refreshing clarity."
--Edward Byrne
"This collection is a gift to creative writing classrooms everywhere. Rather than literal explanations of the text, these are fascinating explorations of the creative process, achieving the intimacy of a live reading."
--Faith Adiele
Buy Making Poems
(State University of New York Press, 2010)
This diverse collection of poems and companion essays by forty nationally and internationally known poets allows readers to experience the creative process through the eyes and voice of each poet. No matter how often we are told that revision is an essential component of poetic composition, it can be difficult to resist the temptation to think of the poem as having sprung spontaneously, Athena-like, from the writer’s head. By exposing readers to the finished product as well as the poet’s own account of the poem’s creation, Making Poems offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on the poetic process that will fascinate both beginning and established writers. The book also affords poetry instructors an opportunity to demonstrate to their students the ways in which poems can originate from seemingly mundane and unlikely sources.
Praise for Making Poems
"A valuable addition to one's personal library for all writers and readers of poetry, this anthology finds its rightful position among the tradition of entertaining and enlightening books in which authors discuss poetic craft or the creative process with a cogent blend of practical wisdom and refreshing clarity."
--Edward Byrne
"This collection is a gift to creative writing classrooms everywhere. Rather than literal explanations of the text, these are fascinating explorations of the creative process, achieving the intimacy of a live reading."
--Faith Adiele
Buy Making Poems