Description
Discover Where Poetry Begins
25 ORIGINAL ESSAYS and INTERVIEWS. An innovative anthology of essential information about the development of the writing craft—memoirs and interviews of outstanding poets from diverse backgrounds who recall the ways by which they made their start as writers.
Contributors include Jane Hirshfield, Arthur Sze, Denise Duhamel, David
Lehman, Alfred Corn, Phillip Lopate, Sheila Murphy, Mary Mackey, Indigo Moor, Kim Shuck, Philip F. Clark, Gail Newman, Basil King, Denise Low, Sandy McIntosh, Jason McCall, Geoffrey O’Brien, Lynne Thompson, Burt Kimmelman, Eileen R. Tabios, Dennis Barone, Rafael Jesús González, Tony Trigilio, Stephanie Strickland, and Julie Marie Wade.
“Aspiring poets will find a rich vein of insight in these thoughtful pieces.”
- Publisher's Weekly
Literary Nonfiction. Poetry. Memoir. Essays. Interviews.
“ON BECOMING A POET gratifyingly is not a how to for becoming one. These are the stories of what transpired as and when the realization occurred. Or: 'The first time it happened,' to use Mary Mackey’s phrase. 'It'—the proximate cause, and then the poetry itself—was a pepperwood tree. It was a Mrs. Sullivan who stopped to care. It was the nomination of Robert Bork. It was the school chorus as an opt-out from gym. It was a translation of a Tang dynasty poem into English. Find these instigations here and then find yours.”
—Al Filreis, Kelly Writers House, University of Pennsylvania
"ON BECOMING A POET is a necessary text for any active and engaged reader. Whether you’re a practicing poet, a teacher looking for more sources, or a lay reader who is just interested in poetry, you’ll find something in this text for you. The scale of this text alone makes it worth readers’ while: 25 poets from diverse backgrounds revealing their meaning-making strategies and poetry origins stories! The personal component of this text is so compelling and helps the text to teach without being overly didactic. This book is a blessing and needed addition to the archive and canon."
—Douglas Manuel, Bayard Rustin Fellow, Whittier College
"The book is just smashingly good, and I’m so impressed with the density and breadth and solidity of these pieces. In the old days, it would have been one of those books that an entire generation of young poets eagerly snatched for their shelf-- I so hope it can still do that now, in these more fractured times. It deserves to be there. "
—Jane Hirshfield
Author Bio
Susan Terris (Editor) is a freelance editor and the author of 7 books of poetry, 17 chapbooks, 3 artist's books, and 2 plays. Journals include Air/Light, The Southern Review, Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Blackbird, and Ploughshares. She has had poems published both in Pushcart Prize and in Best American Poetry. Her most recent book DREAM FRAGMENTS won the Swan Scythe Press Award.
Author City: SAN FRANCISCO, CA USA