The conventions of poetry may seem imposing, but a good poem can be enjoyed at any age. This new series, geared toward the early elementary learner who may be encountering literary forms and terms for the first time, teaches by example, showing how poets use language in playful and effective ways to create meaning. The friendly illustrations add another layer of approachability, and each book invites the reader to Write Me a Poem based on a key idea outlined earlier. An elementary exploration of the forms and themes of poetry, introducing famous poets William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and Pablo Neruda. Includes a writing exercise. Includes TOC, biographical profile, glossary, book references, websites, and index. Full-color illustrations throughout.

National bestseller An ALA Notable Book Three-term poet laureate Joy Harjo offers a vivid, lyrical, and inspiring call for love and justice in this contemplation of her trailblazing life. Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet laureate, invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road. A musical, kaleidoscopic, and wise follow-up to Crazy Brave, Poet Warrior reveals how Harjo came to write poetry of compassion and healing, poetry with the power to unearth the truth and demand justice. Harjo listens to stories of ancestors and family, the poetry and music that she first encountered as a child, and the messengers of a changing earth—owls heralding grief, resilient desert plants, and a smooth green snake curled up in surprise. She celebrates the influences that shaped her poetry, among them Audre Lorde, N. Scott Momaday, Walt Whitman, Muscogee stomp dance call-and-response, Navajo horse songs, rain, and sunrise. In absorbing, incantatory prose, Harjo grieves at the loss of her mother, reckons with the theft of her ancestral homeland, and sheds light on the rituals that nourish her as an artist, mother, wife, and community member. Moving fluidly between prose, song, and poetry, Harjo recounts a luminous journey of becoming, a spiritual map that will help us all find home. Poet Warrior sings with the jazz, blues, tenderness, and bravery that we know as distinctly Joy Harjo.

This book discusses the extent of distrust and the extent of the misunderstandings that exist in the poetry world.

A major addition to the literature of poetry, Edward Hirsch’s sparkling new work is a compilation of forms, devices, groups, movements, isms, aesthetics, rhetorical terms, and folklore—a book that all readers, writers, teachers, and students of poetry will return to over and over. Hirsch has delved deeply into the poetic traditions of the world, returning with an inclusive, international compendium. Moving gracefully from the bards of ancient Greece to the revolutionaries of Latin America, from small formal elements to large mysteries, he provides thoughtful definitions for the most important poetic vocabulary, imbuing his work with a lifetime of scholarship and the warmth of a man devoted to his art. Knowing how a poem works is essential to unlocking its meaning. Hirsch’s entries will deepen readers’ relationships with their favorite poems and open greater levels of understanding in each new poem they encounter. Shot through with the enthusiasm, authority, and sheer delight that made How to Read a Poem so beloved, A Poet’s Glossary is a new classic.

Papa Is a Poet: is a picture book about the famous American poet Robert Frost, imagined through the eyes of his daughter Lesley. When Robert Frost was a child, his family thought he would grow up to be a baseball player. Instead, he became a poet. His life on a farm in New Hampshire inspired him to write "poetry that talked," and today he is famous for his vivid descriptions of the rural life he loved so much. There was a time, though, when Frost had to struggle to get his poetry published. Told from the point of view of Lesley, Robert Frost's oldest daughter, this is the story of how a lover of language found his voice.

Discover the poet within! You’ve read poetry that has touched your heart, and you’d like to improve your own writing technique. But even though you have loads of inspiration, you’re discovering that good instruction can be as elusive as a good metaphor. The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Writing Poetry will help you compose powerful, emotion-packed poems that you can be proud of. You’ll learn: • Simple explanations of poetry building blocks, such as metaphor, imagery, symbolism, and stanzas. • Steps to the poetic process. • Easy-to-follow guidelines for writing sonnets, sestinas, narrative poems, and more. • Fun exercises to help you master the basics of poetry writing. • How to avoid clichés and other poetry pitfalls. • Advice on writers’ conferences and workshops. • Tips on getting your poetry published. • Good poems that will inspire your own work. • Strategies to beat writer’s block.

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