The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach Paperback – September 23, 1992

I bought my first copy of this book in the 1990s, and have since misplaced my copy. Jim Simmerman’s wonderful “Twenty Little Poetry Projects” was worth the price all by itself. I’ve used the Simmerman method to write a dozen poems. There has been at least one anthology published of “Simmermans” i.e. poems written in this “form” if you will. Look for it.

This is the only resource you need as a creative writing teacher!! This book is great for idea and image generation and for eliminating writer's block (maybe indefinitely). There are seriously enough exercises to take up a semesters worth of instruction. I pick and choose prompts based on the major skills I want students to learn for writing poetry and go from there. This is the most practical tool I've ever used for teaching.

I bought this for personal study. It has some great exercises that it walks you through if you want to treat it as a workbook (supply your own drafting paper). There are some group exercises if you wanted to use this in a poetry group or classroom but they usually mention how to alter it for solo writers.It does not teach you how to evaluate poetry, just helps you get started writing poems.

Nowadays we are in the habit of reading what ingredients have gone into prepared food, how many calories it contains per unit, whether it is good for us, and how much we have to pay, not only in dollars and cents, but investment in time. PRACTICE OF POETRY may be intended for those who want to write poetry, yet as is the case with many "how-to" books, knowledge of how something is done may enhance appreciation of what is already there, in the market, on the table.PRACTICE OF POETRY probes into (often subjective) experiences and offers different ways of externalizing and sharing them. How words sound, harmony as well as cacophony, shades of meaning, the impact of random combinations and how they are interpreted when shared, How thought, simply put, may evoke complex chains of association is part of richness that poetry offers. By providing a DIY approach which can be practiced in the privacy of your own intellectual boundaries, awareness of the magic of language. By recognizing what provides smoothness, texture, color, color as well as rhythm and different levels of depth, we open ourselves to willingness to consider different approaches and interpretations. We connect through poetry, perhaps using different threads. The PRACTICE OF POETRY brings tricks of the trade to the reader, not necessarily making each a virtuoso, but appreciative of range of feelings we may share. In an eectronic world connected and at the same time disconnected, people need multiple opportunities to reach within themselves. Familiarity with poetry allows sharing. Activities such as SUDOKU and crossword puzzles may help maintain brain virility, but they tend to be solitary activities. Group activity inspired by sections in PRACTICE OF POETRY may be very rewarding in recreational activity involving seniors.The chapters in this book can be effectively and successfully adapted to different age and ability levels. Joy of language is a component of sustained academic interest. It can be fun. . . The shared classroom experience is difficult to replicate. Nevertheless, the work's division into playful invitations to participate in a creative game keeps the door open both to shy and hesitant visitors and to those who want to use their own ingredients to create new dishes.

This was a replacement for the one that I lost. A must if you write/ teach poetry!

I use this for teaching poetry. Offers enough problems for beginning poets.

This book was recommended in other poetry books I've read, so I thought it would be good. Although I'm not a big fan of writing exercises as such, I'm not opposed to them on principle. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't relate to the exercises in this book: they never spoke to me, they never came alive for me. Possibly you have to be in a certain frame of mind to engage in these activities -- sitting at a desk in a college classroom, maybe.

I have used this book to practice writing poetry. It is a treasure trove of interesting exercises and ideas. Although I have applied them selectively, following my own tastes and disposition, they have led me to write poems I've enjoyed writing and reading. I sincerely thank the generous poets who contributed.

This book is full of ideas for personal exploration of poetry, or for presenting a variety of poetry assignments for one's English class. I am delighted with the interesting and effective exercises.

Very insightful.

The book has a blurry cover printing and the inside text is grey and washed out. It appears to be a self-published version print of a PDF - does not present like a published book of Harper Collins publishers.

As a practicing or novice poet there are a lot of good ideas to stretch your writing muscles. Many different ways of looking. A slight criticism, the poem examples are mostly from based in the US.

Very useful book and surprisingly good read.