An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art

by Annie Finch, Kathrine Varnes

At once handbook, reader, and guide to the literary tastes and wisdom of poets, An Exaltation of Forms is an indispensable resource certain to find a dedicated audience among poetry lovers. The editors invited over fifty contemporary poets to select a poetic meter, stanza, or form, describe it, recount its history, and provide favorite examples. The essays represent a remarkably diverse range of literary styles and approaches, and show how the forms of contemporary English-language poetry derive from a wealth of different traditions.

The forms range from hendecasyllabics to prose poetry, haiku to procedural poetry, sonnets to blues, rap to fractal verse. The range of poets included is equally impressive--from Amiri Baraka to John Frederick Nims, from Maxine Kumin to Marilyn Hacker, from Agha Shahid Ali to Pat Mora, from W. D. Snodgrass to Charles Bernstein. Achieving this level of eclecticism is a remarkable feat, especially given the strong opinions held by members of the various camps (e.g., the New Formalists, LANGUAGE poets, feminist and multicultural poets) that exist within today's poetry community. Poets who might never occupy the same room here occupy the same pages, perhaps for the first time. The net effect is a book that will surprise, inform, and delight a wide range of readers, whether as reference book, pleasure reading, or classroom text.

Poet, translator, and critic Annie Finch is director of the Stonecoast low-residency MFA program at the University of Southern Maine. She is author of The Ghost of Meter: Culture and Prosody in American Free Verse, Eve, and Calendars. She is the winner of the eleventh annual Robert Fitzgerald Prosody Award for scholars who have made a lasting contribution to the art and science of versification.

Kathrine Varnes teaches English at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is the author of the book of poems, The Paragon. Her poems and essays have appeared in many books and journals.

Genres: Poetry, Crafts, Writing, Teaching, Essays, Reference

442 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Annie Finch is the author of six books of poetry, including Spells: New and Selected Poems, The Poetry Witch Little Book of Spells, Calendars and Eve (both finalists for the National Poetry Series), and the verse play Among the Goddesses: An Epic Libretto in Seven Dreams (Sarasvati Award, 2012). Her poems have appeared onstage at Carnegie Hall and in The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century American Poetry. Her other works include poetry translation, poetics, poetry anthologies, and a poetry textbook. She is also the editor of Choice Words: Writers on Abortion (Haymarket Books, 2020). Annie Finch holds a Ph.D from Stanford, served for a decade as Director of the Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing, and has lectured on poetry at Berkeley, Toronto, Harvard, and Oxford. In 2010 she was awarded the Robert Fitzgerald Award for her lifetime contribution to the art and craft of Versification. Finch has collaborated on poetic ritual theater productions with artists in theater, dance, and music and has performed as Poetry Witch on three continents. She teaches poetry and magic at PoetryWitchCommunity.org. 

“My poems harness the magically diverse and deeply rooted craft of poetic rhythms and forms. Like spells, they enjoy being spoken aloud three times." —Annie Finch

Annie on Twitter @poetrywitch
Annie on Instagram @thepoetrywitch

Annie connects with readers and facilitates seasonal rituals and classes in poetry and meter in her online community,
PoetryWitchCommunity.org, open to all who identify as women or gender-nonconforming.

Want more info? Updates, videos, poems, spells, spellsletter signup, and more at anniefinch.net

Blessings to all my beautiful readers!

Reviews

[Tandava Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun reference/inspiration book. Each section has a different poet writing about a form that inspires them, and includes various specific examples. The book builds up from line-level structure, to stanzas, to larger forms. In addition to some of the obvious topics like sonnets and sestinas, it also covers rap, hip-hop, and several weird things at the end that I mostly skimmed over. (The section on "nude formalism," for instance, seemed unable to describe what it actually is, or, for that matter, to prove that it even exists. Sheesh.) Perhaps the most intriguing, new-to-me form was the renku, a type of collaborative poetry that's sort of an advanced Japanese version of the exquisite corpse game. It would be fun to try in a group sometime, though I can also imagine taking some features of it to make an interesting solo poem as well.

[Donald Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having written six poetry books over the years, I had never really "studied" form. Having decided to improve my writing I bought three books on form. This is by far the best. The discussion of forms is enhanced by the variety of poets who take on each. There are forms in here I was not familiar with and some I had used unknowingly.
The discussions are not so academic one cannot follow, and the examples range from classic to modern. The poets are not shy about expressing their opinions whether about the forms or the reception of forms by other poets.
There may be more extensive books on the subject of forms, but I feel this is a must for any poetry lovers bookshelf.
I give this one five stars.

[Jade Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read select chapters of this book for a poetry class, but I ended up reading every chapter just for fun. It's a great reference for several poetic meters, stanzas, and forms--as well as a great reference when you need inspiration.

[Ximena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Saw this white woman poet go after other POC experimenting with poetic forms. So NO. You don't get police how others are pushing the boundaries of form poetry.

[Dru · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a poetry class. I am delighted I had this book, and I combed every bit of it. I think some of it could be trimmed down, but this is a pretty good one for having to read a school book.

[Sophie Nguyen]

when you hit rock bottom poetry will be there, waiting all along.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using this to teach my 287 workshop on forms in poetry, and I have to say, this is a GREAT book for it. Of course there's some variation in how much I enjoyed each essay (I'm still not sure I really get what the heck "fractal poetry" is), but as a way of introducing the vast possibility in formal play to students who have accepted poetry into their lives and now need to push against those possibilities, this is exactly what I was looking for. And, for the record, I was really pleased at the fact that the forms offered weren't quite as British as I'd thought they'd be: a healthy number of chapters take a look at Blues poetry, Hip-hop and performance poetry as forms, etc etc. Very pleased!

[Sherry Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many forms, many voices. I used this book as a sort of syllabus for a self-guided course in form, setting myself the task of writing a poem or two in every form mentioned, from ottava rima to oulipo. Where I learned most was in trying to write the classic stanza forms: rime royal, Spenserian, heroic couplets etc. Though I probably won't make a career of writing in such stanzas, the exercise taught me much about the challenges of such forms, what they can and cannot do.

Highly recommended.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish this book. I sat down to "read" it, but it's more helpful as a reference book. I found it more practical to look up particular poetic forms, rather than to try to digest all of them.

[Nice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to buy this book. I keep check it out at the library and renewing it to the limit, because I constantly find myself referring back to it.

[Allyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of this for Forms class. A solid resource. Though that Wesli Court drives me a little nuts.

[Laurie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I go back to this book time and again when looking for good essays on form.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invaluable resource for using form to write contemporary poetry.