LibGuides: Creative Writing: Poetry: Introduction

The Wick Poetry Center

In 1984 Robert Wick, a sculptor and former art department faculty member at Kent State University, and his brother, Walter Wick, established the Wick Poetry Center in memory of their sons Stan (1962–1980) and Tom (1956–1973). Today the Wick Poetry Center encourages new voices by promoting opportunities for individuals and communities locally, regionally, and nationally. Wick engages emerging and established poets and poetry audiences through readings, publications, workshops, and scholarship opportunities.

The Wick Poetry Center

Kent State University Departments

Department of English, Kent State University
The Department of English at Kent State University offers a wide variety of programs leading to B.A., M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. degrees. Our undergraduate programs include Literature, Teaching English as a Second Language, and the Writing Minor, as well as numerous internship opportunities. At the graduate level we offer master's programs in Literature and Writing, Teaching English as a Second Language, and Creative Writing and doctoral concentrations in Literature and Rhetoric and Composition.
Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program
Established in 2005, The NEOMFA is unlike any other program in the country. A consortium of four universities, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, The University of Akron, and Youngstown State University, the NEOMFA's unique collaborative design allows students to take advantage of an award-winning faculty of 26 members and to concentrate in the writing of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. In addition, we are among just a few programs in the country offering a playwriting concentration.

Introductory Texts on Writing Poetry

Creating Poetry by John Drury
ISBN: 0898794439
Publication Date: 1991-05-15
This book teaches budding poets to explore language text, subject matter, free and measured verse, imagery, metaphor and experimentation with new poetic forms.
How to Write a Poem by John Redmond
ISBN: 1405124792
Publication Date: 2005-09-12
An innovative introduction to writing poetry designed for students of creative writing and budding poets alike:
challenges the reader's sense of what is possible in a poem; traces the history and highlights the potential of poetry; focuses on the fundamental principles of poetic construction, such as: Who is speaking? Who are they speaking to? Why does their speaking take this form? Considers both experimental and mainstream approaches to contemporary poetry; consists of fourteen chapters, making it suitable for use over one semester;
encourages readers to experiment with their poetry.
A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver
ISBN: 0156724006
Publication Date: 1994-08-15
With passion, wit, and good common sense, the celebrated poet Mary Oliver tells of the basic ways a poem is built-meter and rhyme, form and diction, sound and sense. Drawing on poems from Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and others, Oliver imparts an extraordinary amount of information in a remarkably short space. “Stunning” (Los Angeles Times). Index.

Introductory Texts for Reading

How to Read a Poem by Burton Raffel
ISBN: 0452010330
Publication Date: 1984-04-01
An introductory text that is both an anthology of over 200 poems and a comprehensive exploration of the form. Over 100 poets featured; those most widely represented include Blake, Byron, cummings, Dickinson, Donne, Alan Dugan, Frost, Louise Gluck, George Herbert, Keats, Pope, Pound, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and Yeats.
A Grain of Poetry by Herbert R. Kohl
ISBN: 0060187832
Publication Date: 1999-03-03
Poetry has the power to move and challenge the reader. It can intensify or even celebrate misery, be cynical or wry, or just laugh outright in an outrageous way. Poetry is as serious and antic as life, and yet reading modern poetry can be shocking to our sense of what language is or must be.In A Grain of Poetry, Herbert Kohl presents a series of guideposts to help everyone read poetry and discover those poems that inform and inspire them. In clear, direct language, he covers all of the essential-but often uncharted paths to understanding poetry: form and structure, line breaks and pauses, rhythm and melody, imagery, and recitation. Written by one of the country's leading educators, A Grain of Poetry is a comprehensive and accessible guide for all poets, students, and poetry lovers.
How to Read a Poem by Edward Hirsch
ISBN: 0156005662
Publication Date: 2000-04-01
How to Read a Poem is an unprecedented exploration of poetry and feeling. In language at once acute and emotional, distinguished poet and critic Edward Hirsch describes why poetry matters and how we can open up our imaginations so that its message can make a difference. In a marvelous reading of verse from around the world, including work by Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop, Wallace Stevens, and Sylvia Plath, among many others, Hirsch discovers the true meaning of their words and ideas and brings their sublime message home into our hearts.

Organizations

American Life in Poetry
American Life in Poetry is a free weekly column for newspapers and online publications featuring a poem by a contemporary American poet and a brief introduction to the poem by Ted Kooser [the 2004-2006 Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress]. The sole mission of this project is to promote poetry, and we believe we can add value for newspaper and online readers by doing so.
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
The mission of The Association of Writers & Writing Programs is to foster literary achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing.
Library of Congress Poetry and Literature
The mission of the Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center, under the terms of the bequests that established and support its programs, is to foster and enhance the public's appreciation of literature. To this end, the Center administers the endowed Poetry chair and coordinates an annual literary season of public poetry, fiction and drama readings, performances, lectures and symposia, all sponsored since 1951 by the Library's Gertrude Clarke Whittall Poetry and Literature Fund and the Huntington Fund.
The Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.
Poetry International Web
Poetry International Web’s main objectives include making available quality poetry from as many countries as possible to an international readership, encouraging poetry translation, stimulating the international exchange of knowledge about poetry, and facilitating an international community of poetry-readers.
Poets.org from the Academy of American Poets
The Academy is a nonprofit organization with a mission to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry. Poets.org is one of several programs presented by the Academy of American Poets.

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Creative Writing: Poetry: Introduction

The Wick Poetry Center

Kent State University Departments

Introductory Texts on Writing Poetry

Introductory Texts for Reading

Organizations

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