Poetry Readers Challenge discussion

Conversation Pieces: Poems that talk to other Poems Edited Kurt brown and Harold Schecter (Done)
Villanelles - Edited by Annie Finch and Marie-Elizabeth Mali
Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons by Marilyn Hacker
Greg Delanty: American Wake
Mary Kinzie - Summer of Vietnam and other Poems
Mary Jo Salter – Sunday Skaters
A.R. Ammons – Garbage
Jared Carter - Les Barricades Mysterieuses: thirty-two villanelles
Mark Doty – Fire to Fire
Mark Cox - Natural Causes
Andrew Hudgins – Babylon in a Jar
W. D. Snodgrass - The Führer Bunker: The Complete Cycle
Maxin Kumin - Our ground Time Here Will Be Brief
Yusef Komunyakaa - Dien Cai Dau
William Matthews - Rising and Falling
Gjertrud Schnakenberg - Heavenly Questions
Anne Stevenson - Stone Milk
R. S Thomas - Experimenting with an Amen
Ted Hughes - Crows
Kay Ryan - Say Uncle (Done)

good to see your list, Donald, and the familiar and unfamiliar names.

I agree. Good to see your list. Conversation Pieces sounds very interesting.

S and Jen - I'll add the remaining 7 as I read through the anthologies listed. Yes, "Conversation Pieces" is excellent. I love answer poems, in fact, I think engaging in them is one of the most rewarding part of writing poems. I have another collection of answer poems: "The Muse Strikes Back: A Poetic response by Woman to Men" Editors, Katherine McPine and Gail White. If you know of any others, would like to know.

I read this one some time ago - Talking Back to Poems: A Working Guide for the Aspiring Poet. It was less a response to a poem, than a craft book getting poets/readers to write poems in the style or form of the example poem. Interesting, but not essential, imo.

S, thanks for mentioning the book above. You're right, doesn't look like the same thing. Writing in the style of wouldn't be what I'm looking for.

It's really quite amusing that I came across Conversation Pieces on your list because I had just read Raleigh's famous reply to Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" in an anthology I picked up yesterday and the editor makes note of the connection. The Muse Strikes Back sounds enjoyable too.

I could see using Talking Back to Poems in a class or workshop. I think trying to mimic requires looking more closely--as well as giving a purpose to looking more closely.

Jen, that is funny about the timing of those things.
Yes, the book starts off with Marlowe and Raleigh. I think my favorite series of answer back poems is for Yeats' "Leda and the Swan." There are 4 different Answer back poems, including a very good Pantoum by Maxine Kumin and - you're not going to believe this- a free verse poem by Robert Frost, "Zeus: Leda & Swan!" (I looked all over for it online and could not find it, nor had I ever heard of it among Frost's poems. Would love to know where the Editors dredged it up at!

I don't doubt that mimicking a known author's style is good practice in a workshop. What intrigues me about the Talking Backs is that, if successful, and published, the later day poet has created a bond with the earlier master - kind of mystical!!

Jen, yes, "Talking Back to Poems" is more a kind of beginning workshop thing.

One book that I have and think is worthwhile is called "Touchstones," edited by Jay Parini, in which poets discuss one of their favorite poems (by someone else).

S: I have read the Parini book. Also "First Loves" edited by Carmela Ciuraru is on the same order.

Just noticed in the "Read'M and Weep" section another answer Poem that wasn't in "Conversation Pieces:"Wodrsworth and Hughes, "On Westminster Bridge." Found a site with Hughes reading Wordsworth version.