Poetry at Work (Masters in Fine Living Series)
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Poetry at Work: (Masters in Fine Living Series) Paperback – November 27, 2013
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Review
I love this book in part because of its difficulty—or, rather, ease—in classifying its audience: everyone should read it. Poets, CEOs, HR directors, IT workers, nurses, job applicants, and even non-poets. Glynn Young adds eloquently to the conversation enjoyed by Dana Gioia, David Whyte, and Clare Morgan. His unique vision of poetry in the workplace goes beyond any primer or workbook—this book is elemental. —Dave Malone, author of View from the North Ten
By rights, Glynn Young ought to be a beaten man. After all, he’s a poet who does his day job in the prosaic world of corporate communications. But after decades of this heavy action, he remains ebullient. And now he’s out with a book on poetry, in which he describes how poetry makes companies work better, shows us ‘the poetry of vision statements’ and—even more unlikely—’the poetry of PowerPoint’ and ‘the poetry of the organization chart.’ For a corporate writer or anyone who wants to bring meaning into their work, Poetry at Work is an oasis they’ll want to call home. —David Murray, Editor of Vital Speeches of the Day
We don’t give ourselves enough time for poetry—at work or at home. If we did, our business life might be less stressful and more satisfying. We might find our work more rewarding. We might, as Young suggests, find the poetry at work. —Scott Edward Anderson, Global Marketing Director, Cleantech at Ernst & Young, author of Fallow Field
By rights, Glynn Young ought to be a beaten man. After all, he’s a poet who does his day job in the prosaic world of corporate communications. But after decades of this heavy action, he remains ebullient. And now he’s out with a book on poetry, in which he describes how poetry makes companies work better, shows us ‘the poetry of vision statements’ and—even more unlikely—’the poetry of PowerPoint’ and ‘the poetry of the organization chart.’ For a corporate writer or anyone who wants to bring meaning into their work, Poetry at Work is an oasis they’ll want to call home. —David Murray, Editor of Vital Speeches of the Day
We don’t give ourselves enough time for poetry—at work or at home. If we did, our business life might be less stressful and more satisfying. We might find our work more rewarding. We might, as Young suggests, find the poetry at work. —Scott Edward Anderson, Global Marketing Director, Cleantech at Ernst & Young, author of Fallow Field
About the Author
Glynn Young leads the social media team for a Fortune 500 company. For much of his career he was a corporate speechwriter, and has won nine national speechwriting awards. He’s the author of two novels, Dancing Priest and A Light Shining. He has loved poetry since high school. Visit him at faithfictionfriends.blogspot.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By
Elizabeth Marshall
on December 8, 2013
Format: Paperback
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Maybe one of the best indicators of a book's impact is the willingness of the reader to buy it and gift it to friends and family. This is such a book. I announced with joy and sincere enthusiasm upon completing the last page of "Poetry At Work" - "I am giving this book for Christmas to many!!!" Because this book has a heart and soul. And it will surely change how we approach our work, our very lives. And don't we all work. Whether we are parenting, preaching, teaching, or running universities or corporations, writing poems or practicing medicine. Work is what we "do". Young tells his story well, and well, poetically. He has the heart of a poet. With each chapter Young brings the reader along, encouraging his readers to live, work, problem-solve and see the world as poets. And for the doubter, naysayer, corporate- minded, engineer in the bunch, Young offers anecdotal "proof", evidence from a life spent in corporate america, unveiling the ways in which the poet impacts, creates and softens environments, hearts and even the world. This is a book for everyone. This is masterful part of the Fine Living Series from TS Poetry Press. I cannot wait for their next book in the series. For if this is an indicator of what's to come, we are in for more excellent and poetic words from the folks at TS Poetry.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
Dave Malone
on December 14, 2013
Format: Paperback
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With Poetry at Work, speechwriter and poet Glynn Young adds eloquently to the conversation on poetry begun by Dana Gioa, David Whyte, and Clare Morgan.
I love this book, and partly because it’s tough to classify. Or perhaps it’s too easy to classify: Everyone should read it. For it doesn’t matter your walk of life because who is this book written for? Poets? Yes. CEOs? Yes. HR directors? Yes. Job applicants? Yes. Speechwriters? Yes. Non-poets? Yes.
You will laugh, and you may just cry. There are so many fine anecdotes in the book. Aided by the author, a TSA agent chooses to ignore protocol and decides not to pat down a small child in the airport. A registered nurse sticks a cardboard cut out of Emily Dickinson into a plastic aorta at a cardiovascular unit where she works. Young compares a poorly-done Powerpoint presntation to the Iliad. When the author embraces a fellow employee after a layoff, the man weeps.
Young is able to see the poetic aspect of beauty in the workplace: “I see beauty in a new employee policy executed flawlessly—and the humanity when it’s not.” And this gets to the author’s premise. The workplace is an organic, living thing with many limbs and features that connects a huge number of persons and all their differences.
How can you not want to read a book that compares the work commute to Joyce Kilmer and Homer? Young offers a vision of work as poetry where the utilitarian cubicle is haiku and the sprawling conference room a villanelle. If you agree with Young, then you see the poet within the workplace, not an outsider to it.
This book isn’t just what it might appear to be, some kind of primer or workbook on poetry—this book is elemental. The human drama of beauty and passion and conflict is here.
I love this book, and partly because it’s tough to classify. Or perhaps it’s too easy to classify: Everyone should read it. For it doesn’t matter your walk of life because who is this book written for? Poets? Yes. CEOs? Yes. HR directors? Yes. Job applicants? Yes. Speechwriters? Yes. Non-poets? Yes.
You will laugh, and you may just cry. There are so many fine anecdotes in the book. Aided by the author, a TSA agent chooses to ignore protocol and decides not to pat down a small child in the airport. A registered nurse sticks a cardboard cut out of Emily Dickinson into a plastic aorta at a cardiovascular unit where she works. Young compares a poorly-done Powerpoint presntation to the Iliad. When the author embraces a fellow employee after a layoff, the man weeps.
Young is able to see the poetic aspect of beauty in the workplace: “I see beauty in a new employee policy executed flawlessly—and the humanity when it’s not.” And this gets to the author’s premise. The workplace is an organic, living thing with many limbs and features that connects a huge number of persons and all their differences.
How can you not want to read a book that compares the work commute to Joyce Kilmer and Homer? Young offers a vision of work as poetry where the utilitarian cubicle is haiku and the sprawling conference room a villanelle. If you agree with Young, then you see the poet within the workplace, not an outsider to it.
This book isn’t just what it might appear to be, some kind of primer or workbook on poetry—this book is elemental. The human drama of beauty and passion and conflict is here.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
Maureen E. Doallas
on December 16, 2013
Format: Paperback
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"Poetry is part of every aspect of our work experience,
from our first job to our last one. . . Poetry is in work,
it is work, and it has been there all along."
In Poetry At Work*, Glynn Young relates how he first discovered poetry at work. He was at one of his regular weekly meetings, seated at the conference table, when he became aware of "a submerged conversation" that revealed certain elements of poetry: sounds, for example, and rhythms and imagery. As he continued to tune in, he writes, he also came to realize that "poetry shows up not only in a weekly meeting but in . . . the presentations we make, the spaces in which we work, and the successes and failures and challenges of work."
That flash of insight — and the recognition that the key to finding poetry on the job is, simply, "to look for it" — left Young "stunned." In that moment, he writes, he grasped that poetry offered him a way to uncover the limitations, strengths, values, and truths of his organization — to better understand what it was and what it could become — and, in the process, to deepen his awareness of himself and his colleagues. That made his discovery transformative, life-changing, altering his perception of the inherent value of work — any work, all work. "When we work," Young writes generously, "we express and create poetry."
The first in a planned Masters of Fine Living series from T. S. Poetry Press, Poetry At Work is not a how-to guide and it is not prescriptive.Read more ›
from our first job to our last one. . . Poetry is in work,
it is work, and it has been there all along."
In Poetry At Work*, Glynn Young relates how he first discovered poetry at work. He was at one of his regular weekly meetings, seated at the conference table, when he became aware of "a submerged conversation" that revealed certain elements of poetry: sounds, for example, and rhythms and imagery. As he continued to tune in, he writes, he also came to realize that "poetry shows up not only in a weekly meeting but in . . . the presentations we make, the spaces in which we work, and the successes and failures and challenges of work."
That flash of insight — and the recognition that the key to finding poetry on the job is, simply, "to look for it" — left Young "stunned." In that moment, he writes, he grasped that poetry offered him a way to uncover the limitations, strengths, values, and truths of his organization — to better understand what it was and what it could become — and, in the process, to deepen his awareness of himself and his colleagues. That made his discovery transformative, life-changing, altering his perception of the inherent value of work — any work, all work. "When we work," Young writes generously, "we express and create poetry."
The first in a planned Masters of Fine Living series from T. S. Poetry Press, Poetry At Work is not a how-to guide and it is not prescriptive.Read more ›
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