Writing Poems [Paperback]

Robert Wallace (Author), Michelle Boisseau (Author), Robert Wallace (Author), Michelle Boisseau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1995 | ISBN-10: 0673990133 | ISBN-13: 978-0673990136 | Edition: 4th

This renowned guide to writing poetry offers comprehensive coverage of the creative process and the technical aspects of writing poetry. For poets/teachers who embrace a writing text as a companion to the larger conversation that happens in the classroom, nothing measures up to Writing Poems: 1) to introduce to the beginning student poetry's traditions, discipline and (hard-won) rewards, and 2) to guide more experienced poets through the deep oceans of making and remaking poems. Filled with practical advice, this text enlivens students' understanding of poetry, illustrates poetic principles, and serves as a reliable handbook. It also includes an anthology of classic and contemporary poems, that can be used as a springboard for classroom discussion and student writing. This market-leading, student-friendly text can be used at either the undergraduate or graduate level.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The fact that you're holding this book in your hands means that you have an interest in reading and writing poetry. The authors, themselves published poets, eagerly share their knowledge and love of poetry in this revision of Writing Poems, which introduces you to poetry's traditions and teaches you the essentials for developing your craft.

 

WHAT YOU'LL FIND IN THIS EDITION

• Sixty new poems–many by younger contemporary poets, representing a wide range of ages, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, and aesthetic approaches–will encourage you explore various poetic strategies in your own writing.  
• Chapter selections now include classical and contemporary poems from across the globe, reflecting the interconnectedness of our global society.  
• Recognizing that no one is immune to writer's block, the authors have provided new, more powerful exercises in the ''Questions and Suggestions'' sections to get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to commit words to paper.  

Working hard and having fun on the journey often go hand in hand. So, open this book and use it to its full potential since it is said the only expensive book is one that remains closed. Enjoy the adventure ahead of you!

 

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins College Div; 4th edition (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0673990133
• ISBN-13: 978-0673990136
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,439,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is like an MFA program in poetry in 410 pages., April 15, 1999

By 

Laurel Ann Bogen (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing Poems (Paperback)

I have taught this book in its various editions in the Writers' Program at UCLA for many years. It is simply the best textbook I have ever found to demystify poetry and inspire would-be poets. Not only is the text clear, cogent and lively, but the examples of poetry used -- from Sharon Olds' "Sex Without Love" and Norman Dubie's "A Blue Hog", to Yusef Komunyakaa's "Sunday Afternoons" and Richard Wilbur's "Love Calls Us to the Things of the World" (plus classics such as W.C. Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow" and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken") -- are uniformly first rate. If you want to learn how to write poetry well and do not live near an urban writing center, you can do no better than to buy this book.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Seek an earlier edition, September 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Writing Poems (5th Edition) (Paperback)

I have a previous edition of this book which I've really enjoyed, but something seems to have washed out of this current offering. The book is dedicated to Robert Wallace, who died during the compilation of edition #4, and I'm wondering if the book didn't go to press in a daze. This edition seems slicker, perkier, and less succinct than it's siblings. Still useful and nutritious but in that low-salt, high-fiber way that I don't want my poems or books about poems to have. My suggestion is to try an earlier edition.

In my daydreams, every poet has read this book (edition #2 I can vouch for), as well as the books "Western Wind" and "In the Palm of Your Hand" and gorgeous, flexing poems are lying about everywhere. It could happen.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Creative Writing Text for Poets, September 1, 2003

By 

John N. Thornburg "Professor English / Creati... (San Jacinto College, Pasadena / Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing Poems (Paperback)

WRITING POEMS by Michelle Boisseau and Robert Wallace, 6th ed., offers clear advice, appropriate examples, and stimulating suggestions for creating poems. I recommend this text to advanced poetry students who have had at least one semester of creative writing. R. S. Gwynn's Poetry: A Harper Collins Pocket Anthology would complement this text in a junior-level college poetry writing course.