The Strategic Poet: Honing the Craft
The Strategic Poet listed in the Sept/Oct 2022 Poets & Writers as one of twelve recommended craft books.
The Strategic Poet has been named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers.
The Strategic Poet has been reviewed in Compulsive Reader by Claire Hamner Matturro who describes the book as "a worthwhile, high-quality book containing a wide array of information, teaching prompts, styles, and poems, all of which should educate and delight its readers as it helps them hone their craft. The contents are universally insightful, helpful, and informative. The book lives up to its title and is an excellent source of knowledge and is impeccably edited and organized."
The Strategic Poet has been reviewed in Mom Egg Review. Reviewer Lara Lillibridge says, "If you are going to read just one craft book on poetry, The Strategic Poet is the most thorough and easiest to follow that I’ve read."
The Strategic Poet has been reviewed in Heavy Feather Review. Reviewer Deborah Bacharach says, "[Lockward is] teaching us how to let every poem we read teach us the thematic, rhetorical, and musical moves a poet can make."
The Strategic Poet has been named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers.
The Strategic Poet has been reviewed in Compulsive Reader by Claire Hamner Matturro who describes the book as "a worthwhile, high-quality book containing a wide array of information, teaching prompts, styles, and poems, all of which should educate and delight its readers as it helps them hone their craft. The contents are universally insightful, helpful, and informative. The book lives up to its title and is an excellent source of knowledge and is impeccably edited and organized."
The Strategic Poet has been reviewed in Mom Egg Review. Reviewer Lara Lillibridge says, "If you are going to read just one craft book on poetry, The Strategic Poet is the most thorough and easiest to follow that I’ve read."
The Strategic Poet has been reviewed in Heavy Feather Review. Reviewer Deborah Bacharach says, "[Lockward is] teaching us how to let every poem we read teach us the thematic, rhetorical, and musical moves a poet can make."
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The Strategic Poet: Honing the Craft focuses on the craft of poetry and is based on the belief that craft can be taught and the best teacher of craft is a good poem. This book assumes a knowledgeable reader, that is, one who already knows the language of poetry and already practices the craft. This book is organized into thirteen sections, each one devoted to a specific poetic strategy. While only thirteen strategies are used for organizational purposes, the reader will find many additional strategies referred to and discussed within the sections. There is a progression from one section to the next, but each section also stands alone, so the reader or teacher can follow the order of the Contents or move about freely among the sections.
Each section begins with a Craft Talk solicited from a well-known poet with a clear mastery of craft. Each Craft Talk is followed by Model Poems and Prompts. Each Model Poem is followed by an analysis of its craft elements, especially its use of the section's strategy. One Model Poem in each section is followed by a Commentary from the poet who wrote the poem and is focused on a particular strategy used in the poem. Each of the thirty-six Prompts is followed by two Sample Poems written to the prompts. These seventy-two poems demonstrate that the prompts are not mere exercises and can produce terrific poems. Each section ends with three Bonus Prompts. There thirty-nine additional prompts were contributed by thirteen contemporary poets. These short prompts provide additional practice with the strategies, can be used multiple times, and should lead to some good poems. |
Contributors include 114 of our best contemporary poets.
Craft Talk Poets
Ellen Bass Jan Beatty Lauren Camp Annie Finch David Graham Tami Haaland
W. Todd Kaneko Meg Kearney Danusha Laméris Peter Murphy
Dion O’Reilly Diane Seuss Marilyn L. Taylor
Ellen Bass Jan Beatty Lauren Camp Annie Finch David Graham Tami Haaland
W. Todd Kaneko Meg Kearney Danusha Laméris Peter Murphy
Dion O’Reilly Diane Seuss Marilyn L. Taylor
Model Poem Poets
Pamela Baggett George Bilgere Traci Brimhall Nicole Callihan Beth Copeland George Drew Camille Dungy
Dara Elerath Melanie Figg Robert Fillman Kate Gaskin J.P. Grasser Jesse Graves Jared Harél
Lois Marie Harrod Elise Hempel Tina Kelley Ada Limón Melanie McCabe Lynn McGee Brad Aaron Modlin
David O’Connell Matthew Olzmann Jessica Piazza Catherine Pierce Craig van Rooyen Sean Shearer
James Scruton Rob Shapiro Adam Tavel Sara Moore Wagner Frank X Walker Carolyne Wright
Matthew Yeager Dean Young
Pamela Baggett George Bilgere Traci Brimhall Nicole Callihan Beth Copeland George Drew Camille Dungy
Dara Elerath Melanie Figg Robert Fillman Kate Gaskin J.P. Grasser Jesse Graves Jared Harél
Lois Marie Harrod Elise Hempel Tina Kelley Ada Limón Melanie McCabe Lynn McGee Brad Aaron Modlin
David O’Connell Matthew Olzmann Jessica Piazza Catherine Pierce Craig van Rooyen Sean Shearer
James Scruton Rob Shapiro Adam Tavel Sara Moore Wagner Frank X Walker Carolyne Wright
Matthew Yeager Dean Young
Commentary Poets
Beth Copeland Camille Dungy Dara Elerath Melanie Figg J.P. Grasser
Jesse Graves Jared Harél Lois Marie Harrod Tina Kelley James Scruton
Sean Shearer Craig van Rooyen Sara Moore Wagner
Beth Copeland Camille Dungy Dara Elerath Melanie Figg J.P. Grasser
Jesse Graves Jared Harél Lois Marie Harrod Tina Kelley James Scruton
Sean Shearer Craig van Rooyen Sara Moore Wagner
Bonus Prompt Poets
Jeffrey Bean Patricia Clark Cat Doty Caitlin Doyle Jennifer Franklin
Joy Gaines-Friedler Adele Kenny Lance Larsen Kerrin McCadden
Allison Joseph J.C. Todd BJ Ward Michael T. Young
Jeffrey Bean Patricia Clark Cat Doty Caitlin Doyle Jennifer Franklin
Joy Gaines-Friedler Adele Kenny Lance Larsen Kerrin McCadden
Allison Joseph J.C. Todd BJ Ward Michael T. Young
Sample Poem Poets
Tiel Aisha Ansari KB Ballentine Nina Bennett Libby Bernardin Nancy Susanna Breen
Ronda Piszk Broatch Jayne Brown Luanne Castle Robin Rosen Chang Robin Chapman
Kersten Christianson Patricia Clark Cathryn Colman Gail Comorat Geraldine Connolly
Jane Mary Curran Jessica de Koninck Maureen Doallas Lynn Domina Robert Fillman
Ann Fisher-Wirth Emily Franklin Deborah Gerrish Holiday Goldfarb Lucy Griffith
Penny Harter Lisa Hase-Jackson Shayla Hawkins Andrea Hollander Karen Paul Holmes
Jenny Hubbard Christen Noel Kauffman Tina Kelley Adele Kenny Jemshed Khan
Athena Kildegaard Kim Klugh Lynne Knight Marcia LeBeau Diane LeBlanc Denise Low
Charlotte Mandel Joan Mazza Maren Mitchell Erin Murphy Dion O’Reilly
Jenna Rindo Janet Ruth Jennifer Saunders Linda Simone Kate Sontag
Betsy Thorne Denise Utt Lisken Van Pelt Dus Kory Wells Bruce Whitacre
Scott Wiggerman Shannon K. Winston Elizabeth Wolf Michael T. Young Yvonne Zipter
Tiel Aisha Ansari KB Ballentine Nina Bennett Libby Bernardin Nancy Susanna Breen
Ronda Piszk Broatch Jayne Brown Luanne Castle Robin Rosen Chang Robin Chapman
Kersten Christianson Patricia Clark Cathryn Colman Gail Comorat Geraldine Connolly
Jane Mary Curran Jessica de Koninck Maureen Doallas Lynn Domina Robert Fillman
Ann Fisher-Wirth Emily Franklin Deborah Gerrish Holiday Goldfarb Lucy Griffith
Penny Harter Lisa Hase-Jackson Shayla Hawkins Andrea Hollander Karen Paul Holmes
Jenny Hubbard Christen Noel Kauffman Tina Kelley Adele Kenny Jemshed Khan
Athena Kildegaard Kim Klugh Lynne Knight Marcia LeBeau Diane LeBlanc Denise Low
Charlotte Mandel Joan Mazza Maren Mitchell Erin Murphy Dion O’Reilly
Jenna Rindo Janet Ruth Jennifer Saunders Linda Simone Kate Sontag
Betsy Thorne Denise Utt Lisken Van Pelt Dus Kory Wells Bruce Whitacre
Scott Wiggerman Shannon K. Winston Elizabeth Wolf Michael T. Young Yvonne Zipter