How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside: An Alternative Guide to Writing and Enjoying Poetry

by Brian Bilston

Genres: Poetry

304 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2026

About the author

Brian Bilston is a poet whose work has been shared widely on social media over the last few years. He has been described as the 'unofficial Poet Laureate of Twitter'.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant poetry, Brian Bilston makes me laugh out loud. I’m not going to start writing poetry so I wasn’t interested in the guide to writing part.

[John Appleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd initially thought this merely a book of poems when I ordered it months ago, but pleasingly, it seems to be something of a guide to poetry as well. I say pleasingly, as I write a lot of poetry, and am always open to a few new ideas and ways of thinking about things - and there are plenty of enjoyable poems in here too, to illustrate his points.

My earliest impressions were that the book seems a bit more like a parody of poetry guides, but then as he gets into the nitty gritty of things it does become more instructive, and in a light, readable manner without too much worrying about the difference between dactyls and amphibrachs or what differentiates a Petrarchan sonnet from its Shakespearean relative. The technical stuff you can easily look up in your own time, of course.

There are sections on various forms of poetry, with examples, advice on how to get your poetry out there, how to go about writing it and getting ideas - all good stuff if you want to have a stab at poetry. For me the most useful was the section on free verse; it's a form I rarely write in as I've never felt I can do it right (in as much as there can be a right way), maybe with the advice herein I'll try it a bit more.

The poems included are pithy and witty and typical of Bilston's sense of humour, and even if you do just want this book for the joy of the poems in their own right, there's enough of them there to perhaps justify the price.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a witty and satirical guide to reading, writing and enjoying poetry, with 130 of Brian’s new poems used to illustrate the different themes and sources of inspiration he discusses.

I love following Brian on here and Facebook, and seeing his poems pop into my feed to break up the doom scrolling and make me smile! So it’s lovely to have a proper collection of his work on my shelf finally!

If you’ve not read any of Brian’s poetry before, I highly recommend checking him out on here (or buying this book!) He often writes about topical news subjects with his trademark wit, intelligence and embracing of the absurdity of life. His poems also include a lot of play on words and language which I love.

The commentary in the book, around the world of poetry and how to write poems, is hilarious. Brian shares his sharp and intelligent humour whilst very much not taking himself seriously! I really enjoyed that juxtaposition of his very intelligent and erudite poetry musings and his making fun of how pretentious and inaccessible the idea of poetry is often viewed.

The format, with the mix of fun musings and poems works really well and means you could read it front to back, like I did, or dip into it as your own leisure!

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Bilston is not only an amazing writer but his poetry is fantastic. I’m not a complete poetry aficionado but this book made me feel like I could write poetry!

Not only is there a wealth of knowledge in here but it’s filled with humour and written in such a way that you laugh and learn. It’s even a great book for those who don’t care about poetry, there’s hundreds of poems in here written by the author and they’re honestly worth a read alone!

It’s a great book to keep coming back to and super enjoyable.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this book in NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a guide to reading and writing poetry. It's very useful and written in an easy accessable way.
It's also very funny. I haven't read much of Bilston's poetry so this was a new experience for me. I love how this is a serious guide to poetry but also full of witty poems of his own.
I really enjoyed reading this as it put a smile on my face.