The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics
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Organized into ten sections with each devoted to a poetic concept, The Practicing Poet begins with “Discovering New Material,” “Finding the Best Words,” “Making Music,” “Working with Sentences and Line Breaks,” and  “Crafting Surprise.”   The concepts become progressively more sophisticated, moving on to “Achieving Tone,” “Dealing with Feelings,” “Transforming Your Poems,” and “Rethinking and Revising.” The final section, “Publishing Your Book,” covers manuscript organization, book promotion, and presentation of a good public reading.

The book includes thirty brief craft essays, each followed by a model poem and analysis of the poem’s craft, then a prompt based on the poem. Ten recyclable bonus prompts are also included. Ten Top Tips lists are each loaded with poetry wisdom from an accomplished poet.
 
The Practicing Poet pushes poets beyond the basics and encourages the continued reading, learning, and writing of poetry. It is suitable as a textbook in the classroom, a guidebook in a workshop, or an at-home tutorial for the practicing poet working independently. 

The craft essays, poems, and top tips lists include the work of 113 contemporary poets.  
​Craft Tip and Model Poem Contributors:
Christopher Bakken    Joseph Bathanti    Jeanne Marie Beaumont    Adrian Blevins    Jody Bolz    Traci Brimhall    Sharon Bryan
Lauren Camp    Roger Camp    Richard Cecil    Nicole Cooley    Meg Day    Maggie Dietz    Emari DiGiorgio    Patrick Donnelly
Camille T. Dungy    Peter Everwine    Chris Forhan    Vievee Francis    Jeannine Hall Gailey    James Galvin    Jennifer Givhan
Juliana Gray    William Greenfield    Barbara Hamby    Hunt Hawkins    Cynthia Marie Hoffman    Adele Kenny    Ada Limon
Diane Lockward    Nancy Chen Long    Sandy Longhorn    Thomas Lux    Anne Marie Macari    Ted Mathys    Campbell McGrath
Jennifer Militello    John Murillo    Peter E. Murphy    April Ossmann    Alan Michael Parker    Molly Peacock    Marge Piercy
Lawrence Raab    Chelsea Rathburn    Susan Rich    Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers    Pattiann Rogers    Natasha Sajé    Christopher Salerno  
 Danielle Sellers    Diane Seuss    Betsy Sholl    Martha Silano    Maggie Smith    Mark Smith-Soto    Maxine Susman    Sidney Wade
Top Tips List Contributors:
Ellen Bass     Jan Beatty     George Bilgere     Oliver de la Paz     David Kirby     Dorianne Laux     
​Alberto Rios     Patricia Smith     Lee Upton     Robert Wrigley
Sample Poem Contributors:
Andrea Bates     Roy Beckemeyer     Libby Bernardin     Elizabeth Bodien     Bob Bradshaw     Nancy Susanna Breen     Luanne Castle
Gail Comorat     Jessica de Koninck     Lynn Domina     Patricia Fargnoli     Ann Fisher-Wirth     Gaye Gambell-Peterson     Megan Gannon
Deborah Gerrish     Patricia L. Goodman     Susan Gundlach     Penny Harter     Shayla Hawkins     Karen Paul Holmes     Jenny Hubbard
Tina Kelley     Sheila Kelly     Kim Klugh     Jennifer Kosuda     Joan Mazza     Judith Montgomery     Kathy Nelson     Camille Norvaisas
Rebecca Hart Olander     Linda Parsons     Emily Ransdell     Anjela Villarreal Ratliff     Susanna Rich     Jenna Rindo     Kenneth Ronkowitz
 Jennifer Saunders     Penelope Scambly Schott     Carla Schwartz     Carol Seitchik     Martha Silano     Dianne Silvestri     Linda Simone
Denise Utt     Scott Wiggerman     Lisa Young