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Inside The Cover
Book Reviews Creating
Poetry “What the heck have
I gotten myself into?” was my first impression after delving into Creating
Poetry by John Drury. I had not
written poetry in years and have never had any formal education in writing
poetry either. When I started
writing poetry again after a decade-long hiatus, I listened to some of my fellow
online poets talk about things like iambic pentameter and enjambment and found
myself clueless. I am not afraid to
ask questions and did ask others about things I did not understand, but found
that I needed a more tangible reference that covers poetic terms and tools (and
my poor fellow poets needed a break from my constant questions).
The name John Drury was mentioned, so I decided to read his book, Creating
Poetry. As expressed earlier,
I was somewhat intimidated by this book at first.
In the introduction, there is a map with lines and arrows all over the
page labeling numerous poetic terms. Overwhelming
to say the least, but I didn’t want to give up on the book.
I continued to flip through and saw lots of thorough explanations
(instead of curt definitions) of poetic terms, forms and styles.
There are also many examples (oh, how I love examples).
Drury doesn’t give a whole poem as an example if it isn’t necessary,
which is very effective. I don’t
have to search a whole poem to find examples of assonance or onomatopoeia
because Drury clearly points them out in short excerpts of poems.
He covers more than just poetic terms, forms and styles; he also
discusses some basic concepts, ideas, what to write about and where to find
inspiration. Creating Poetry is more than the ‘what,’ it’s the ‘what’ along with the ‘how’ and ‘why.’ It gives more than a textbook definition; it gives a definition along with explanations, examples, and other references. Also, he includes exercises that encourage you to learn how to write certain forms and styles, instead of just memorizing the definition. This isn’t the type of book you will likely (or even should) read from beginning to end in one sitting. It will not transform you from beginner to advanced poet overnight; only writing, writing, and more writing over a long period of time could possibly do that. Creating Poetry should be used as a reference where you take one thing at a time and move at your own pace. Keep it on your desktop or bookshelf and refer to it often. Poppy Hullings is a
hopeful poet, greeting card writer and book reviewer.
Her work has been published by KotaPress, _Mocha Memoirs, PoemKingdom,
Poetic License Magazine, SaucyVox, Shadow Poetry and Skyline Magazine.
She is the author of Reflecting in Words, a collection of her
poetry published by Shadows Ink in February 2003.
She is also the founder of the Samantha Paige Crusade (http://www.spcrusade.com),
which donates helpful and inspiring books about child loss to libraries,
organizations and individuals. |
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