Poetry I Knowetry- Purchasing New Poetry Books

I am continually adding to my collection of poetry titles. The books that catch my poet's eye are an eclectic collection of works. That's what is so exciting about conducting these ongoing searches through the poetry zone. Fascinating discoveries await. Writers are collectors, after all. I must continue to feed my need. You cannot be a writer unless you are a reader. Here are some treasures I recently added. I commend them to you as worthy of your consideration:

Image result for sea prayer khaled hosseini

Khaled Hosseini, widely read author of 'The Kite Runner' presents the hauntingly beautiful Sea Prayer, a poem across many pages. It is a poem of longing for a life lost to bombs and conflict and the need to take a perilous sea journey. The best books make us think...

Image result for locomotion jacqueline woodson

Jacqueline Woodson's verse novel was delight to read. It celebrates poetry and rejoices in the power of resilience as witnessed by young Lonnie Collins Motion better known as 'Locomotion' as he learns to deal with personal grief. I am an avowed fan of verse novels and the writing of Jacqueline Woodson further enhances their standing.

An anthology of 30 poems exploring moods and emotions. Contributions come from poets all round the world. Think Emily Dickinson, E E Cummings, Michael Rosen, and Carol Ann Duffy among others The book is beautifully presented with a range of emotionally charged offerings. From naughty to nostalgic and from sad to secretive. This collection helps the reader better understand the complexity of human behaviours. Readers of all ages will see themselves in these poetic offerings

I came across this book on a recent visit to Adelaide where I spent a delightful hour in the Pegi Williams Children's Book Shop in Walkerville. Lost Magic is a best of book from prolific English poet, Brian Moses. It features over a hundred of his very best poems including, 'Walking My Iguana' 'Shopping Trolley' 'Billy's Coming Back' and a personal favourite of mine, 'A Feather From An Angel.' Brain Moses has been a professional poet for children since 1988 and has published over 200 books. This book is a most worthy addition to my ever growing poetry collection.

Image result for Carol Ann Duffy Books

Another book I found while browsing at Pegi Williams Children's Bookshop was Carol Ann Duffy's selected anthology of poems. Carol Ann duffy is the U.K's Poet Laureate and is an award winning poet in her own right. She has chosen poems that are classical in nature, but she has balanced it out with some contemporary offering as well. So, this book is packed with familiar favourites and delightful new poems. The poems are accompanied by black line illustrations by Emily Gravett. There is something here for young poets of all persuasions. It is always interesting to observe the choices others make when choosing favourite poems.

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York. I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...

Opposite Poems

O pp o s ite P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,' Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. N...

Powerful Poetry, 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston

This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully @ Salt City Verse where Janice shares some original words and offers us a taste of Thomas Carlyle to ponder. I encourage you to join a host of poets from all around the globe and visit Janice's page... Almost two years to the day, I wrote a post featuring the poem 'Refugees' by Brian Bilston. The poem was included in Brian's first book of poetry, 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' A very powerful Reverso poem and technically brilliant. A Reverso poem can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top. It will often express opposite opinions depending on which way you read it. Such poems really make us think. A Reverso poem is like a picture turned upside down, a frowning face upended to reveal a smiling one. The poem read in reverse, contradicts itself with an opposing message. In 'Refugee' Brian Bilston focuses on a societal issue that tends to polarize feelings and the opposing views are clearly in eviden...

Molly Hogan10 December 2018 at 12:20
Thanks for sharing all these titles, Alan. They look wonderful! I'm on a book buying hiatus right now (sob) but will surely keep these in mind!
Michelle Kogan10 December 2018 at 15:28
Thanks for these 5 new to me poetry books–I've read "Brown Girl Dreaming" and Jacqueline Woodson's newest books "Harbor Me," and her picture book "The Day You Begin," I'll have to look for "Locomotion."

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