*Over 90,000 copies sold* Long an anchor text for college and junior college writing classes, this illuminating and invaluable guide has become a favorite for beginning poets and an ever-valuable reference for more advanced students who want to sharpen their craft, expand their technical skills, and engage their deepest memories and concerns.This edition adds Steve Kowit’s famous essay on poetics “The Mystique of the Difficult Poem,” in which he argues stirringly and forcefully that a poem need not be obscure to be great. Ideal for teachers who have been searching for a way to inspire students with a love for writing--and reading--contemporary poetry. It is a book about shaping your memories and passions, your pleasures, obsessions, dreams, secrets, and sorrows into the poems you have always wanted to write. If you long to create poetry that is magical and moving, this is the book you've been looking for. Here are chapters on the language and music of poetry, the art of revision, traditional and experimental techniques, and how to get your poetry started, perfected, and published. Not the least of the book's pleasures are model poems by many of the best contemporary poets, illuminating craft discussions, and the author's detailed suggestions for writing dozens of poems about your deepest and most passionate concerns.

Ideal for teachers who have been searching for a way to inspire students with a love for writing--and reading--contemporary poetry.It is a book about shaping your memories and passions, your pleasures, obsessions, dreams, secrets, and sorrows into the poems you have always wanted to write. If you long to create poetry that is magical and moving, this is the book you've been looking for.Here are chapters on the language and music of poetry, the art of revision, traditional and experimental techniques, and how to get your poetry started, perfected, and published. Not the least of the book's pleasures are model poems by many of the best contemporary poets, illuminating craft discussions, and the author's detailed suggestions for writing dozens of poems about your deepest and most passionate concerns.

This textbook teaches the writing of poetry by examining all the major verse forms and repeating stanza forms in English. It provides students with the tools to compose successful lines of poetry and focuses on meter (including free verse), rhythm, rhyme, and the many other tools a poet needs to create both music and meaningfulness in an artful poem. Presenting copious examples from strong poets of the past and present along with many recent student examples, all of which are scanned, each chapter offers lessons in poetic history and the practice of writing verse, along with giving students a structured opportunity to experiment writing in all the forms discussed. In Part 1, Rothman and Spear begin at the beginning, with Anglo-Saxon Strong Stress Alliterative Meter and examine every major meter in English, up to and including the free verse forms of modern and contemporary poetry. Part 2 presents a close examination of stanza forms that moves from the simple to the complex, beginning with couplets and ending with the 14-line Eugene Onegin stanza. The goal of the book is to give students the essential skills to understand how any line of poetry in English may have been composed, the better to enjoy them and then also write their own: the keys to the treasure chest. Rothman and Spear present a rigorous curriculum that teaches the craft of poetry through a systematic examination and practice of the major English meters and verse forms. Under their guidance, students hone their craft while studying the rich traditions and innovations of poets writing in English. Suitable for high school students and beyond. I studied with Rothman in graduate school and went through this course with additional scholarly material. This book will help students develop a keen ear for the music of the English language.—Teow Lim Goh, author of Islanders

Writers Have No Age: Creative Writing for Older Adults, Second Edition is a book for writers by writers. Unlike the first edition, which was aimed at teachers of writing, this edition is aimed at writers themselves. This book will help older writers value themselves and their potential, and increase the pleasure and satisfaction found in writing. It provides both information and inspiration gained from the authors’ own writing lives and from observation of their students that will help boost writing confidence. Write your way to success—at any age! “We who come to writing do not have to be convinced that there are rewards in store for us. We sense good things ahead and believe in writing’s benefits.” “In this book we have put together some of our own best writing and teaching ideas to help you enjoy the re-creation and stimulation of writing, whatever your age.” “Older writers though we are, we do get better at it all the time.” —the authors This book combines personal accounts of the authors’ writing experiences as well as writing instruction and information. It contains numerous writing exercises and assignments to get you started and techniques to keep you at it. It also includes sections that cover all types of writing, including poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Marketing resources for writers who wish to be published are included. In Writers Have No Age, you will find: authors’ personal anecdotes—from disappointment to success writing exercises and techniques marketing resources and mediums for writers an editing checklist a list of books and periodicals to help hone writing skills suggestions on teaching or volunteering in nursing homes and much more! Writers Have No Age is a valuable tool for anyone in (or just getting started in) the writing field. Not only will this book help beginners sharpen their writing skills, but it will also help those who have written professionally or personally to reach a wider audience. Add this book to your collection today, and write your way to success!

Creative writing is arguably the ultimate form of self-expression. Ideal for anyone interested in writing (student or not), Idiot's Guides: Creative Writing helps readers master the basics of crafting compelling fiction and nonfiction stories. Various genres, including novels, short stories, plays and screenplays, poetry, book-length and article-length narrative nonfiction, memoirs, and more are covered. Content includes the fundamental elements, such as plot, character, point-of-view, setting, dialogue, style, and theme. And readers will be able to hone their writing skills and boost their creativity with writing prompts and exercises.

THE PORTABLE POETRY WORKSHOP actively involves you in the art of writing and responding to poetry. Using a workshop method that features examples of classical and contemporary poetry and hands-on activities, the text is a clear, comprehensive, and practical guide and resource for poetry students at any level.

This inaugural edition of The San Diego Poetry Annual features 101 poems written in 2006 by poets who live,study, work or who were born or raised in San Diego County. Our aim in publishing the best poems we can find each year is to celebrate the rich diversity of talent found throughout our region. We looked for poems from all walks of life and on every subject. There were no restrictions, no taboos. Featured poets, listed in bold face in the Table of Contents, anchor this effort and include some of our finest writers -- Steve Kowit, Sam Hamod, Megan Webster, California poet laureate Al Young and others but it is the combined force of all the other poets that powers this book, mirroring both the eclectic nature of the San Diego poetry scene and its impressive collective energy. Copies of The San Diego Poetry Annual 2006 are being donated in the name of the contributing poets to every public library in the county, and to reference libraries throughout the state.

Provides up-to-date profiles on the careers of leading and emerging poets.

Following the success of several recent inspirational and practical books for would-be writers, Poemcrazy is a perfect guide for everyone who ever wanted to write a poem but was afraid to try. Writing workshop leader Susan Wooldridge shows how to think, use one's senses, and practice exercises that will make poems more likely to happen.