Books by Kim Addonizio

Related pages:
Poetry index. Books on How to Read. Books on How to Write. How to Listen. How to Write - A Recipe.

How to write specific forms: Haibun. Haiku. Hay(na)ku. Rengay. Tanka.
Ghazal. Pantoum. Sestina. Sonnet. Villanelle.

Books of Poetry Form. Kim Addonizio.

In the Palm of Your Hand, Steve Kowit. Cheery. Lots of practical exercises.

The Poet's Companion, Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux. Encouraging to beginners. Includes erotic writing.

The Practice of Poetry, Robin Behen and Chase Twichell. A grab-bag of 90 writing exercises by poets who teach writing.

Making Your Own Days, Kenneth Koch. Lucid and delightful book on the pleasures of reading and writing poetry.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott. A delightful book to help you stop procrastinating and prove you are a writer, one word at a time.

Writing Poetry, Barbara Drake. A useful student's text.

A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver. A short book without exercises.

Writing Poems, Robert Wallace. A workman-like book of over 400 pages.

In the Palm of Your Hand, Steve Kowit.
(1995, ISBN 0-88448-149-2)
Highly recommended. Brimming with clear and practical exercises, Kowit's book is the best 'How to' book to help you start writing poetry. My favorite chapter ('first among equals') is Chapter 5 on Awful Poems, where Kowit leads us cheerily through the frequent mistakes that appear in our poems, with exercises to correct them. The Poet's Companion, Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux.
(1997, ISBN 0-393-31654-8)
Recommended with enthusiasm. The Poet's Companion does the essential job of helping us generate work. (In the middle of reading the second page, I put it down for 15 minutes to rough-draft a new poem!)

Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within

An excellent, practical book.

Read it!

And do lots of the creative exercises to improve your poetry writing and your ability to revise your work.

Buy 'Ordinary Genius' Ordinary Genius (2009).
Highly recommended.
The Poet's Companion, Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux.
(1997, ISBN 0-393-31654-8)
Recommended with enthusiasm.
The Poet's Companion does the essential job of helping us generate work.
(In the middle of reading the second page,
I put it down for 15 minutes to rough-draft a new poem!)

36 chapters grouped in 4 sections:

entering poetry
1. leaping in the dark
2. make a book
3. first thought, worst thought
4. getting started
5. opening doors
6. your genius, your demons
7. line, breath, & vision
8. by heart: a shakespeare sonnet
9. describe this
10. read this
inner and outer worlds
1. identity 1: boys, girls, & bodies
2. three meditations
3. by heart: a love poem
4. love & sex poems
5. me, myself, & i
6. what you don't know
7. three observations
8. the pain-body
9. ha! working with humor
10. identity 2: race, class & privilege
11. the whiskey on your breath: addictions
the poem's progress
1. metaphor 1: the shimmer
2. white heat, necessary coldness
3. a bag of tricks
4. the poem's progress
5. metaphor 2: parts and the whole
6. enchantments: myths & fairy tales
toward mastery
1. music & meter
2. write a sonnet
3. a poem you love: close reading
4. page to stage: performance
5. word/art: make a broadside
6. two heads: collaborations
7. do-overs & revisions
8. publishing & the pinocchio syndrome
9. mirror at the end of the road

Concludes with:

appendix A: poems & poetry resources online
appendix B: recommended reading

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