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An Invitation to Poetry: A New Favorite Poem Project Anthology
A multimedia collection of poems introduced by American readers, featuring a DVD including a video introduction by Robert Pinsky. For a reader unaccustomed to reading poetry, or who has fallen away from the custom, this collection offers an inviting way into the art, or back into it. For readers devoted to poetry, it offers illuminating examples of the infinitely various ways a poem reaches a reader.
In both the book and the videos on the accompanying DVD, poems by Sappho, Shakespeare, Keats, Whitman, and Dickinson as well as contemporary poets are introduced by people from across the United States―a construction worker, a Supreme Court justice, a glassblower, a marine―each of whom speaks about his or her connection to the poem. Their comments are variously poignant, funny, heartening, tart, penetrating, and eccentric, showing some of the ways poetry is alive for American readers. An Invitation to Poetry will inspire a fresh experience of poetry's pleasure and insight.
In both the book and the videos on the accompanying DVD, poems by Sappho, Shakespeare, Keats, Whitman, and Dickinson as well as contemporary poets are introduced by people from across the United States―a construction worker, a Supreme Court justice, a glassblower, a marine―each of whom speaks about his or her connection to the poem. Their comments are variously poignant, funny, heartening, tart, penetrating, and eccentric, showing some of the ways poetry is alive for American readers. An Invitation to Poetry will inspire a fresh experience of poetry's pleasure and insight.
- GenresPoetry
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
8 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Robert Pinsky
122 books134 followersRobert Pinsky is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of which are collections of his own poetry. His published work also includes critically acclaimed translations, including The Inferno of Dante Alighieri and The Separate Notebooks by Czesław Miłosz. He teaches at Boston University and is the poetry editor at Slate.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 2, 2008
This anthology was great for discovering poets I didn't know of (but perhaps should know?). My only quibble is because it's meant to be accessible there are no footnotes or other guides to give a sense of context. All the poems stand very well on their own but some of them had me yearning to find out just a bit more about how they fit into the body of the poet's work, which I suppose is the point of an "invitation"--to get you to find out more. :)
January 30, 2024
I actually enjoyed the people who shared their individual responses to an assigned poem. I really liked reading the responses better than reading the poetry.
May 10, 2008
SMART and FUN
I took out a video called the Poem Project at the Pratt Library a few months ago and I enjoyed it immensely. It contained a broad range of everyday readers and their relationship with one of their favorite poets. Each reader reads his or her favorite poem and explains its significance—significance as it pertains to daily life, and the ways in which these poems live on in them.
Later, I received the book as a gift. It is a great anthology and it comes with the DVD! There are so many memorable readers. From an 11 year-old boy obsessed with baseball, to a Porto Rican woman with big sensual lips, to a Jamaican man proud of his heritage— these memorable readers bring their favorite poems to life… The lusty words roll off of their tongues! I found myself clapping and cheering for the readers. But this isn’t spoken word poetry. This project maintains the dignity and integrity of the original works, in terms of how the poetry should be read.
Instead of feeling like you are watching a public event, you get a sense of intimacy. I think true appreciation occurs when we take art into ourselves. In private moments, we are able to consider poetry’s significance. The DVD allows the reader to sit in the privacy of the home and to share in the experience of otherness. Each person featured is captivating.
CONCLUSION: This was a project worth doing.
I took out a video called the Poem Project at the Pratt Library a few months ago and I enjoyed it immensely. It contained a broad range of everyday readers and their relationship with one of their favorite poets. Each reader reads his or her favorite poem and explains its significance—significance as it pertains to daily life, and the ways in which these poems live on in them.
Later, I received the book as a gift. It is a great anthology and it comes with the DVD! There are so many memorable readers. From an 11 year-old boy obsessed with baseball, to a Porto Rican woman with big sensual lips, to a Jamaican man proud of his heritage— these memorable readers bring their favorite poems to life… The lusty words roll off of their tongues! I found myself clapping and cheering for the readers. But this isn’t spoken word poetry. This project maintains the dignity and integrity of the original works, in terms of how the poetry should be read.
Instead of feeling like you are watching a public event, you get a sense of intimacy. I think true appreciation occurs when we take art into ourselves. In private moments, we are able to consider poetry’s significance. The DVD allows the reader to sit in the privacy of the home and to share in the experience of otherness. Each person featured is captivating.
CONCLUSION: This was a project worth doing.
June 8, 2020
Believe it or not, I picked this book up in a pop up box of books to lend,it had been discarded by a nearby library, it has a DVD attached (which I haven't got going yet). As an English major, I read a lot of poetry and 'fell in love' with it but haven't read much in recent years.
The format of this book is: the poems in it have been selected by ordinary people who write a little paragraph explaining why that particular poem meant so much to him or her. This 'intro' gets one into the mood to re-read the selected poem or maybe be introduced to a new(to you) poet's work.
In these busy days, an easy read with large pages and poems well printed. If you can find it, you'll enjoy it.
(Published 2004)
The format of this book is: the poems in it have been selected by ordinary people who write a little paragraph explaining why that particular poem meant so much to him or her. This 'intro' gets one into the mood to re-read the selected poem or maybe be introduced to a new(to you) poet's work.
In these busy days, an easy read with large pages and poems well printed. If you can find it, you'll enjoy it.
(Published 2004)
July 27, 2018
This is my very first anthology of (mostly) English poetry. Though it's not true that I end up liking every single poem in it, it opens the door for me to explore different styles of poems written by authors from a panoply of backgrounds. Most of the poems are easy-to-read and layman-friendly. I highly recommend it to people who need the first key to the art of poetry.
October 22, 2024
while robert pinsky was poet laureate he founded this project, the favorite poem project, which included gatherings of people sharing their favorite poems and why it was their favorite poem - poetry readings, but reading other people's poetry. it produced several anthologies, of which this is one. I remember my town did at least one, maybe more, favorite poem gatherings - I read about them in the library section of the town newspaper but did not attend.
which, reading this book, was probably a good thing. I think it's a great concept, and it's a great thing for the poet laureate to do, to get people sharing poems they love and introducing others to them and bonding local people over poetry. however, reading it, it was the little introductions from people that I did not like. some were very brief, some were longer, and then it gave the person's name, age, occupation, and location. (there were quite a lot from maryland, actually). I really disliked seeing the occupations. again, I understand the reason behind it, showing how people from all walks of life value poetry, but I did not enjoy reading joe smith, 48, program manager, lexington, kentucky or jennifer williams, 27, investment professional, boston, massachusetts. it just turned me off.
even more curmudgeonly, I often did not enjoy their reasons for liking the poem. I think I just like to have my own private interaction with a poem and not know what some stranger took from it. I feel like a lot of people got really pretentious in their little blurbs. "the poem transports me out of myself back into myself" "my husband introduced me to this poem twenty years ago. I knew rilke's work, but had not experienced it." "this poem revealed to me a hermetic landscape of grief, which, far from suffocating, offered solace through its bewildering beauty." "other poems are just amazing, beautiful, artistic word games compared to true poems. this is a true poem." (thomas wyatt's whoso list to hunt, if you want to see what one 20 year old's opinion of a "true poem" is). a lot of people also turned to poetry in extremis so there are a lot of tragic tales of children's deaths and spouse's deaths, etc. also, people often shared that a certain stanza or line always brings them to tears or makes their skin tingle or whatever, and those stanzas or lines never had the same effect on me so rather than drawing me in more, the introductory blurbs about why it was someone's favorite poem just alienated me.
I mean, I don't need an invitation to poetry, really. I already love reading poetry, I write poetry. I'm also very very very picky about poetry. a lot of it I don't like. it was interesting reading this book shortly after reading the nation's favourite poems, which was collected from the british public rather than the american public - and with the big difference that those were poems that were voted on, not just put forward by one champion. as an anthology, I vastly preferred the democratic collection to this individual one. there were definitely less poems I'd read before in an invitation to poetry, but there is something about the crowdsourcing that filtered for poems that were more clearly written, for one, and more popular.
so, admirable idea, not for me.
which, reading this book, was probably a good thing. I think it's a great concept, and it's a great thing for the poet laureate to do, to get people sharing poems they love and introducing others to them and bonding local people over poetry. however, reading it, it was the little introductions from people that I did not like. some were very brief, some were longer, and then it gave the person's name, age, occupation, and location. (there were quite a lot from maryland, actually). I really disliked seeing the occupations. again, I understand the reason behind it, showing how people from all walks of life value poetry, but I did not enjoy reading joe smith, 48, program manager, lexington, kentucky or jennifer williams, 27, investment professional, boston, massachusetts. it just turned me off.
even more curmudgeonly, I often did not enjoy their reasons for liking the poem. I think I just like to have my own private interaction with a poem and not know what some stranger took from it. I feel like a lot of people got really pretentious in their little blurbs. "the poem transports me out of myself back into myself" "my husband introduced me to this poem twenty years ago. I knew rilke's work, but had not experienced it." "this poem revealed to me a hermetic landscape of grief, which, far from suffocating, offered solace through its bewildering beauty." "other poems are just amazing, beautiful, artistic word games compared to true poems. this is a true poem." (thomas wyatt's whoso list to hunt, if you want to see what one 20 year old's opinion of a "true poem" is). a lot of people also turned to poetry in extremis so there are a lot of tragic tales of children's deaths and spouse's deaths, etc. also, people often shared that a certain stanza or line always brings them to tears or makes their skin tingle or whatever, and those stanzas or lines never had the same effect on me so rather than drawing me in more, the introductory blurbs about why it was someone's favorite poem just alienated me.
I mean, I don't need an invitation to poetry, really. I already love reading poetry, I write poetry. I'm also very very very picky about poetry. a lot of it I don't like. it was interesting reading this book shortly after reading the nation's favourite poems, which was collected from the british public rather than the american public - and with the big difference that those were poems that were voted on, not just put forward by one champion. as an anthology, I vastly preferred the democratic collection to this individual one. there were definitely less poems I'd read before in an invitation to poetry, but there is something about the crowdsourcing that filtered for poems that were more clearly written, for one, and more popular.
so, admirable idea, not for me.
July 27, 2025
I saw RP on Stephen Colbert last week dancing and singing in solidarity with him. Dude is just a class act! Can't help but love him. This was another good dose of reactions to poems, and I think my favorite was the sister talking about her brother coming home totally altered from war in Vietnam. These have such a personal, human touch. I even found a new Emily Dickinson poem I didn't previously know! Biggest brava for another solid volume.
March 26, 2022
An excellent anthology.
Along with the superior selection of poet and poems,
the book includes small commentary about the poems from readers. A lot of the readers’ connections to the poems add much more depth to the literature.
I highly recommend this book.
Along with the superior selection of poet and poems,
the book includes small commentary about the poems from readers. A lot of the readers’ connections to the poems add much more depth to the literature.
I highly recommend this book.
April 1, 2024
A good collection of poetry. I keep trying to "get" poetry, but I just don't often feel like I appreciate it as I should. This had a wide assortment of poems, and I found a few I quite liked. A lot of them I found myself more or less skimming, though.
July 26, 2021
Not my favorite anthology. A lot of poems didn’t speak to me personally. However, it’s worth a read to find the poems that speak most to you.
February 11, 2024
This is a nice collection of poems from authors all over the world.
July 1, 2009
Picked this up at the library (it's the book of the month at my local library so they are promoting it heavily). Figured a few good poems would pass some time. I didn't realize that this is another branch of the favorite poem project - a project in which people are asked to tell stories about their favorite poems. Why they love it, what it means to them.
The stories are sometimes sweet, sometimes silly, and sometimes heart breaking peppered throughout some choice poems. There's also a DVD included - to see some of the stories being read by the people who wrote in. It lends a lot to hear why people love some poems - an 81 year old retired anthropologist talking about how Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 (when in disgrace...) "This is a poem which I learned when I was in seventh grade and what it meant to me at that time was that feeling of being in such misfortune - my experience in the orphanage- and the fact that a situation can turn around so quickly.." Or the construction worker who finds that Whitman's snippet from Song of Myself says to him "You probably don't understand what you just read but stay with it and you will and you'll love it" move him to open to more poetry.
In short. It's good stuff.
The stories are sometimes sweet, sometimes silly, and sometimes heart breaking peppered throughout some choice poems. There's also a DVD included - to see some of the stories being read by the people who wrote in. It lends a lot to hear why people love some poems - an 81 year old retired anthropologist talking about how Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 (when in disgrace...) "This is a poem which I learned when I was in seventh grade and what it meant to me at that time was that feeling of being in such misfortune - my experience in the orphanage- and the fact that a situation can turn around so quickly.." Or the construction worker who finds that Whitman's snippet from Song of Myself says to him "You probably don't understand what you just read but stay with it and you will and you'll love it" move him to open to more poetry.
In short. It's good stuff.
March 3, 2016
I have not read this book completely, it is something I look at periodically. It is a collection of 200 poems chosen for publication by American readers. I was given the copy because I submitted a poem that I would recite, if chosen, at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven, CT. I was not chosen for the big deal, but there was a side performance during the week where a bunch of us were invited to recite the poem and then tell why it is important. I chose Robert Frost's "Stopping by Wood on a Snowy Evening." Here it is:
Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near.
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is somemitake.
The only other sounds the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely. dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I love this poem. I say it to myself ever night as I fall asleep.
Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near.
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is somemitake.
The only other sounds the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely. dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I love this poem. I say it to myself ever night as I fall asleep.
Read
May 3, 2009I am continuing to enjoy this wonderful collection of poems, complete with personal reactions from people who were personally moved by the particular poems. It comes with a CD of those people reacting to the poetry. I enjoy reading people's reactions to some poetry that I don't particularly like and hearing why it means so much to them. I think part of the appeal of poetry is that it doesn't touch everyone in the same way. I like to read through a poem and form my own opinion and then read why that poem is special to someone else.
July 21, 2007
The Favorite Poem Project is a fantastic idea that stitches America together with a thread of poetry.
I've perused all of the FPP anthologies - this one even came with a DVD of people from all walks of life reading their favorite poems.
The comments preceding the poems emphasize the personal nature of poetry and give new insight into old classics, as well as showcasing lesser known works.
The selections and surprisingly sophisticated reactions from kids are especially great.
I've perused all of the FPP anthologies - this one even came with a DVD of people from all walks of life reading their favorite poems.
The comments preceding the poems emphasize the personal nature of poetry and give new insight into old classics, as well as showcasing lesser known works.
The selections and surprisingly sophisticated reactions from kids are especially great.
December 8, 2016
Summary: Invitation to Poetry is an anthology edited by former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. Presented in multimedia form with included DVD, this anthology includes the collection of a wide variety of poets. A great starting place for readers new to poetry.
A good book for someone looking to explore and learn more about poetry and the variety of writers presented. Inclusion of the DVD makes this a useful teaching tool.
Other books: Poems to Read: A New Favorite Poem Project Anthology
A good book for someone looking to explore and learn more about poetry and the variety of writers presented. Inclusion of the DVD makes this a useful teaching tool.
Other books: Poems to Read: A New Favorite Poem Project Anthology
January 26, 2009
I read this a couple of poems at a time over a period of several months. As with any anthology, some poems moved me, some didn't, but overall it was a nice selection. And each poem is introduced by a short bit by the person -- normal people, not poets or academics-- who selected it. It was interesting to see what the poems meant to different people, and how poetry mattered to them.
December 23, 2014
Beautiful. Being the first poetry book I have read, I am spellbound. I found this book cluelessly wandering around the stacks at Memorial Library. My goal was to "get into poetry", but I had no idea where to start. This book was the true invitation I needed. In more than a few ways, this book has forever changed my views on beauty and art.
August 13, 2007
Another Favorite Poem Project anthology--this time with an accompanying DVD.
January 9, 2017
Reading this for school, but it's actually pretty good. I like the individual reflections that go along with each poem.
July 29, 2009
Lesson plans/ approaches to teaching/ intorducing poetry in your classroom--all ages, K-12.
August 19, 2011
This is a great introduction to poetry, with some great personal stories to accompany each piece. I found a few gems.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews