Combining a carefully organized anthology of poetry and an effective writing about literature text, Thinking and Writing about Poetry helps you become a better literary reader and better academic writer.

An impassioned call for a return to reading poetry and an incisive argument for poetry’s accessibility to all readers, by critically acclaimed poet Matthew Zapruder In Why Poetry, award-winning poet Matthew Zapruder takes on what it is that poetry—and poetry alone—can do. Zapruder argues that the way we have been taught to read poetry is the very thing that prevents us from enjoying it. In lively, lilting prose, he shows us how that misunderstanding interferes with our direct experience of poetry and creates the sense of confusion or inadequacy that many of us feel when faced with it. Zapruder explores what poems are, and how we can read them, so that we can, as Whitman wrote, “possess the origin of all poems,” without the aid of any teacher or expert. Most important, he asks how reading poetry can help us to lead our lives with greater meaning and purpose. Anchored in poetic analysis and steered through Zapruder’s personal experience of coming to the form, Why Poetry is engaging and conversational, even as it makes a passionate argument for the necessity of poetry in an age when information is constantly being mistaken for knowledge. While he provides a simple reading method for approaching poems and illuminates concepts like associative movement, metaphor, and negative capability, Zapruder explicitly confronts the obstacles that readers face when they encounter poetry to show us that poetry can be read, and enjoyed, by anyone.

Beginning with basic terminology and techniques, Mayes shows how focusing on one aspect of a poem can help you to better understand, appreciate, and enjoy the reading and writing experience.

"The novelist and poet Ben Lerner argues that our hatred of poetry is ultimately a sign of its nagging relevance"--

From Pakistani poet and Instagram darling Noor Unnahar comes a journal that encourages writers to explore their inner poet, through a variety of evocative and thought-provoking prompts, using Noor's captivating voice as a guide. This journal is where pop poetry and creative inspiration meet. With more than 100 writing prompts influenced by Noor's handwritten poetry and enchanting collages, this journal allows writers to explore their writing style and funnel it into meaningful, cathartic, provocative poetry.

Grounded in craft, this book was composed on three premises: That the study and modeling of great poems is integral to understanding poetry and learning to write poems, that scaffolded learning builds a writer’s and a reader’s confidence and knowledge base and increases learning, and that teachers and facilitators of poetry can and should build learning environments we call “our hearts in a safe place.” Each chapter contains an introduction to a main focus, new terms, a model poem, an explication, short prompts heuristic to each chapter’s focus, and a model exercise. Student poem samples are included in each chapter. The last chapter discusses syllabi, portfolios and alternate grading. A Heart’s Craft differs from other poetry” how to books” because it combines art with pedagogy in a unique and effective fashion.