The Strategic Poet: Honing the Craft

Product Description

The Strategic Poet: Honing the Craft focuses on the craft of poetry and is based on the belief that craft can be taught and the best teacher of craft is a good poem. This book assumes a knowledgeable reader, that is, one who already knows the language of poetry and already practices the craft. This book is organized into thirteen sections, each one devoted to a specific poetic strategy. While only thirteen strategies are used for organizational purposes, the reader will find many additional strategies referred to and discussed within the sections. There is a progression from one section to the next, but each section also stands alone, so the reader or teacher can follow the order of the Contents or move about freely among the sections.

Each section begins with a Craft Talk solicited from a well-known poet with a clear mastery of craft. Each Craft Talk is followed by Model Poems and Prompts. Each Model Poem is followed by an analysis of its craft elements, especially its use of the section’s strategy. One Model Poem in each section is followed by a Commentary from the poet who wrote the poem and is focused on a particular strategy used in the poem.

Each of the thirty-six Prompts is followed by two Sample Poems written to the prompts. These seventy-two poems demonstrate that the prompts are not mere exercises and can produce terrific poems.

Each section ends with three Bonus Prompts. There thirty-nine additional prompts were contributed by thirteen contemporary poets. These short prompts provide additional practice with the strategies, can be used multiple times, and should lead to some good poems.

Contributors include 114 of our best contemporary poets.

This book is suitable for use by poets working independently, by poets in writing groups, and by teachers in the classroom.

From the Author

The book is organized into 13 sections, each devoted to a specific poetic strategy:

I. Descriptive Details

II. Diction

III. Imagery

IV. Sound Devices

V. Repetition

VI. Figurative Language: Simile

VII. Figurative Language: Metaphor

VIII. Figurative Language: Personification

IX. Figurative Language: Hyperbole

X. Figurative Language: Apostrophe

XI. Syntax

XII. Sonnet

XIII. Odd Forms

From the Inside Flap

Craft Talk Poets 

Ellen Bass   *  W. Todd Kaneko  *  Lauren Camp  *  Annie Finch  *  David Graham  * Danusha Laméris  *  Jan Beatty  *  
Meg Kearney  *  Peter E. Murphy  *  
Dion O’Reilly  *  Marilyn L. Taylor  *  Diane Seuss  *  Tami Haaland           

Model Poem Poets

Melanie McCabe  *  Jesse Graves  *  Brad Aaron Modlin  *  Catherine Pierce  *  
Craig van Rooyen  *  George Drew  *  
Pamela Baggett  *  Sara Moore Wagner  *  Lynn McGee  *  Kate Gaskin  *  Ada Limón  *  Lois Marie Harrod  *  
George Bilgere  *  Camille Dungy  *  Robert Fillman  *  Sean Shearer  *  Dean Young  *  
Frank X Walker  *  
Matthew Olzmann  *  Tina Kelley  *  David O’Connell  *  
Dara Elerath  *  Melanie Figg  *  Traci Brimhall  *  
Nicole Callihan  *  Adam Tavel  *  James Scruton  *  Rob Shapiro  *  Jared Harél  *  Jessica Piazza *  
Beth Copeland  *  Elise Hempel  *  
Carolyne Wright  *  Matthew Yeager  *  J.P. Grasser

Commentary Poets 

Jesse Graves *  Craig van Rooyen  *  Sara Moore Wagner  *  Lois Marie Harrod  *  
Camille Dungy  *  Sean Shearer  *  Tina Kelley  *  Dara Elerath  *  Melanie Figg  *  
James Scruton  *  Jared Harél  *  Beth Copeland  *  J.P. Grasser

Bonus Prompt Poets 

Lance Larsen  *  Caitlin Doyle  *  Adele Kenny  *  Michael T. Young  *  J. C. Todd  *  
Catherine Doty  *  Joy Gaines-Friedler  *  Kerrin McCadden  *  BJ Ward  *  
Patricia Clark  *  Jennifer Franklin  *  Jeffrey Bean  *  Allison Joseph

Sample Poem Poets

Tiel Aisha Ansari  *  KB Ballentine  *  Nina Bennett  *  Libby Bernardin  *  
Nancy Susanna Breen  *  
Ronda Piszk Broatch  *  Jayne Brown  *  Luanne Castle  *  Robin Rosen Chang  *  Robin Chapman  *  
Kersten Christianson  *  Patricia Clark  *  Cathryn Colman  *  Gail