Writing Poetry

Handbooks, advice, and inspiration for writing and loving poetry.

Updated March 5, 2026
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Finger exercises for poets
Laux, Dorianne
Paper Book
An illuminating book of concise craft essays and exercises for poets, from Pulitzer Prize finalist and The Poet's Companion coauthor Dorianne Laux. From "a poet of immense insight and masterful craft" (Kwame Dawes), Finger Exercises for Poets is an engaging and...
The art of voice : poetic principles and practice
Hoagland, Tony
Paper Book
In this accessible and distilled craft guide, acclaimed poet Tony Hoagland approaches poetry through the frame of poetic voice, that mysterious connective element that binds the speaker and reader together. In short, essayistic chapters and an appendix of thirty stimulating exercises, The Art of...
Catching the light
Harjo, Joy
Paper Book
National Humanities Medalist and U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo examines the power of words and how poetry summons us toward justice and healing   "Her enduring message--that writing can be redemptive--resonates: 'To write is to make a mark in the world, to...
Singing school : learning to write (and read) poetry by studying with the masters
Pinsky, Robert.
Paper Book
Quick, joyful, and playfully astringent, with surprising comparisons and examples, this collection takes an unconventional approach to the art of poetry. Instead of rules, theories, or recipes, Singing School emphasizes ways to learn from great work: studying magnificent, monumentally...
Rules for the dance : a handbook for writing and reading metrical verse
Oliver, Mary
Paper Book
Pulitzer-prize winning poet and National Book Award winner, Mary Oliver, provides a graceful manual on the mechanics of poetical composition. "True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / As those move easiest who have learned to dance," wrote Alexander Pope. "The dance," in the...
A poetry handbook
Oliver, Mary
Paper Book
"Mary Oliver would probably never admit to anything so grandiose as an effort to connect the conscious mind and the heart (that's what she says poetry can do), but that is exactly what she accomplishes in this stunning little handbook."--Los Angeles Times From the beloved...
Measures of astonishment : poets on poetry
Lilburn, Tim
Paper Book
With essays by Margaret Atwood, Anne Carson, and others, Measures of Astonishment shines a northern light on poetry, showing what is, what it does, and why it matters. "A society without poetry and the other arts would have broken its mirror and cut out its heart...
Ten windows : how great poems transform the world
Hirshfield, Jane
Paper Book
A dazzling collection of essays on how the best poems work, from the master poet and essayist  "Poetry," Jane Hirshfield has said, "is language that foments revolutions of being." In ten eloquent and highly original explorations, she unfolds and explores some of the ways...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.