Writing Poetry

by Barbara Drake

WRITING POETRY is intended to be an all-purpose poetry writing textbook, a fount of inspiration and informtion on the writing process, a solid first step for beginners, and a source of ideas for writers and teachers at all levels. Taken from the Greek word meaning making something up, poetry gos beyond the simple act of creation to inspire. In this textbook, the core structure of the genre is dissected so the intangible may be a little more understood. WRITING POETRY is an appreciative study of an allusive art.

Genres: Poetry, Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

385 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 1983

Reviews

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of influence on me as a writer. This is a very good creative writing book on writing poetry, although there are some great ideas in it, activities really, that a writer can use in any and all forms of creative writing. I was lucky to have Barbara Drake as my professor for creative writing. She taught me many good skills and habits to become the writer and teacher I am now. This book is so worth your time.

[Kevin Pal · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite books on writing poetry, one which I purchased over 35 years ago when I was a student. Barbara Drake taught writing at Michigan State (I studied under her husband, Bud Drake) and this book served as a textbook in her courses. Filled with examples of published poetry to drive home the lessons, the book goes beyond just the normal writing exercises to offer the reader a host of poems to drive home the lesson being taught.

[Zora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was assigned this book in the first creative writing class I took as an adult, back in 1987 or something like that. I balked--had no interest in poetry--but the instructor gently suggested I try, so i did. Before I was halfway through the book, obediently following her suggestions, I was selling poetry to lit mags. And continue to do so until I realized I was spending more in postage than I was getting back in payment. Unlike most MFAs, this book actually worked to make me a published writer.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the textbook used in my first (or one of my first) undergraduate poetry writing classes, and I spent the past year sporadically rereading it, taking time with each chapter. Of course, it suffers a bit from being dated (this edition is over 30 years old), but it is still a really solid poetry reference. It's definitely the best guide I've come across over the years.

[Gary Sites · Rating 4 out of 5]

We used this book in Dick Harrington's excellent poetry writing class at Piedmont Virginia Community College. It is chocked full of good, interesting information. Some of it was over my head, but then, a lot about poetry is over my head.

[Rosa]

“Goulash.”

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good material in here. If you want to write poetry, I recommend it.

Cry count: 0 times.

[David Czuba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first edition of Drake's book in 1983 as part of the creative writing class at Erie Community College, North Campus. Our instructor, Sylvia Simon-Ray, led us through the book quickly, in addition to her short-story assignments. I'd been writing poetry since the fifth grade and had already been exposed to many books on the subject of writing poetry, including Brooks, Penn, Warren's An Approach to Literature series, as well as John Gardner's excellent book On Moral Fiction after having read Garnder's Grendel and Nickel Mountain. Drake covered the versioning process which confirmed what I already felt I had down. This made it easy enough to comprehend how a poem is malleable, and that method is subservient to subject, which is subservient to word choice. But Drake also introduced material that improved my writing from amateur status to the next level of submittable. I did submit, and some of my work got into the college paper and magazine. I eventually published elsewhere (and met my future wife through poetry readings). College is usually where one finds one's cultural footing, and I was no different here, being exposed to other students whose work was already well-developed, or mimicked against celebrity authors, siphoning from their fame. I need not tell you, but these are the sort of writers most of us loathe.
The poems from this edition that stood out to me were Wood Butcher by Norman Hindley, another by D.H. Lawrence about a snake in Sicily, Karl Shapiro's The Fly, and W.D. Snodgrass's April Inventory. On top of that, Diane Wakoski's poems were used throughout. Compared to other well-known books on writing poetry, I have to say this one ranks in the top 3 because it did not come down hard on one method or another, but kept bias assuaged. This is a useful slant for young authors who need to investigate their styles and see which best represents their personalities and what it is they want readers to see. To that end, seeing can be a difficult sell to those readers for whom poetry means wading through tiresome rhyme or childish subjects, or romance that they have yet to find.
Tell me how one person should write poetry and there will certainly be a dozen answers. So, a guide that gives you real advice is useful. It is still useful. Poetry never grows old and gray "like actors in a high-school play." ;) I highly recommend, if you're serious about poetry, to add this book to your shelves.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

serviceable, but not great.