Demystifying the Manuscript: Essays and Interviews on Creating a Book of Poems

by Susan Rich, Kelli Russell Agodon

Book creation is an art and Demystifying the Manuscript offers many perspectives on how to put together a book of poems through the essays and interviews of contemporary prize-winning poets and editors. While there isn’t a single “correct” method for creating a book of poems, Demystifying the Manuscript is filled with expert advice on all aspects of manuscript ordering your poems, determining your goals, insider tips from the editors of journals and small presses, and everything in between. Demystifying the Manuscript will guide you through the process of creating your best book of poems whether you are an emerging writer or an established poet.

Genres: Poetry, Essays, Writing

244 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2023

About the author

Susan is the author of five collections of poetry including the most recently released, Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems. She is also co-editor of The Strangest of Theatres: Poets Writing Across Borders. Her four previous books are Cloud Pharmacy, The Alchemist's Kitchen, finalist for the Foreword Prize, Cures Include Travel and The Cartographer’s Tongue: Poems of the World. She is the winner of the PEN USA Award for Poetry and the Peace Corps Writers Award.

Recent poems appear in The Antioch Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Diode, Southern Review, Harvard Review, and Poetry International. Susan Rich grew up in Boston, Massachusetts but has since become a confirmed Seattlite. When she read in Bosnia and Slovenia the audience burst into laughter at the word "Seattlite" in a poem, mistaking it for satellite. Later, someone explained to Susan that this was funny because Americans come from out of space.
Interview with Elizabeth Glixman at http://www.eclectica.org/v9n4/glixman...

Rich teaches English and Film Studies at Highline College outside Seattle, WA where she is also a co-founder of Poets on the Coast: A Writing Retreat for Women. She has worked in Bosnia, Niger, West Bank and Gaza, and South Africa on behalf of human rights.

Reviews

[Jordan B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what I needed! It covers a lot of ground and has lots of actionable ideas for poets just getting started.

[Melissa]

A helpful collection of interviews with editors and writers concerning approaches and things to think about when putting together a poetry manuscript. Lots of insight into looking at this as a process of transforming your poems into a collection that is cogent and coherent. My copy has plenty of sticky tabs and dog-ears to alert me where to return when I sit down to develop my next collection!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many helpful tips on organizing and publishing your manuscript!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is thorough-going set of essays and interviews with poets and editors on the subject of poetry book organization and design. You might note that such a resource has not been readily available up till now.

I find that each chapter here is quite useful in it's own way (this book is well-organized itself). It has moved me off the dime on a book I have been stuck on how to organize, so authors Rich and Agodon have my thanks and respect. Great stuff. Essential for poets, I would think.

This book would be worth it if only for the Diane Seuss interview on book organization, but there is so much more here.

Again, thanks to the authors for providing an essential resouce.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful and encouraging how-to book, the authors presented a set of common questions about compiling a poetry manuscript to a group of poets with successful books in their resumes. These include Diane Seuss, Linda Pastan, Maggie Smith, and Claudia Castro Luna, among many other notable poets. Basically, each poet has their own approach, nonetheless, the conversation is fascinating. Essays by Sussan Rich at the start and end of the book provide helpful summations and a fantastic bibliography.

[Suzy Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book on craft fills a gap. It’s very pragmatic and helpful. Perhaps by design there is a lot of redundancy (same interview questions throughout often prompt same or similar responses. For me, the redundancies were helpful in hammering in the information. I didn’t take notes, but I didn’t need to. Gratitude to these editors for compiling this compendium.

[January O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this mix of stories from authors across the spectrum of poetry.

[Kassy Lee]

Pretty helpful! In particular, the chapter with editors perspectives was the most helpful.