SteveH
05-27-2007, 09:50 AM
If you write poetry, what books about (not of) poetry do you value most and would recommend?
Mine:
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, ed. Alex Preminger (Princeton U.P.)
Magisterial breeze-block of a book, almost 1,000 large pages with all the information you could possibly need.
The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary by Frances Stillman (Thames and Hudson)
A venerable classic, that really ought to be two separate books: I hardly ever use the rhyming dictionary bit. However, if you find a rhyming dictionary helpful, this one's better-organised and more useful than most. The manual half is a valuable guide to all the verse- and stanza-forms.
The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry (Hutchinson).
The staff in my local Waterstones saw Fry's name on the cover and put this on the 'Humour' shelves. Well, it is very witty, as you'd expect, but it's essentially a serious guide to writing poetry, with suggested exercises at the end of each chapter.
An Introduction to English Poetry by James Fenton (Viking)
Does exactly what it says on the cover.
How to Publish your Poetry by Peter Finch (Allison and Busby)
So does this.
Rhyme's Reason by John Hollander (Yale U.P.)
Describes basic forms, and illustrates them with self-descriptive examples by Hollander. Less than 100 pages, so a bit basic, but entartaining to read.
Bluff Your Way in Poetry by Nick Yapp (Ravette)
Or 'The Bluffer's Guide to Poetry': this series are all called one thing on the spine, and another on the cover. Weird. Be that as it may, amusing light relief.
Mine:
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, ed. Alex Preminger (Princeton U.P.)
Magisterial breeze-block of a book, almost 1,000 large pages with all the information you could possibly need.
The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary by Frances Stillman (Thames and Hudson)
A venerable classic, that really ought to be two separate books: I hardly ever use the rhyming dictionary bit. However, if you find a rhyming dictionary helpful, this one's better-organised and more useful than most. The manual half is a valuable guide to all the verse- and stanza-forms.
The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry (Hutchinson).
The staff in my local Waterstones saw Fry's name on the cover and put this on the 'Humour' shelves. Well, it is very witty, as you'd expect, but it's essentially a serious guide to writing poetry, with suggested exercises at the end of each chapter.
An Introduction to English Poetry by James Fenton (Viking)
Does exactly what it says on the cover.
How to Publish your Poetry by Peter Finch (Allison and Busby)
So does this.
Rhyme's Reason by John Hollander (Yale U.P.)
Describes basic forms, and illustrates them with self-descriptive examples by Hollander. Less than 100 pages, so a bit basic, but entartaining to read.
Bluff Your Way in Poetry by Nick Yapp (Ravette)
Or 'The Bluffer's Guide to Poetry': this series are all called one thing on the spine, and another on the cover. Weird. Be that as it may, amusing light relief.