Writing Poetry

Writing Poetry Useful Links

• Podcasts

  • The Slowdown Podcast The Slowdown podcast hosted by Tracy K. Smith delivers a different way to see the world - through poetry. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    641: Old Growth - The Slowdown

    Today’s poem is Old Growth by Natasha Rao.

    1. 641: Old Growth 05:08
    2. 640: Eventually / One Point Where We Arrive 04:56
  • Commonplace Conversations with Poets (and Other People) A series of intimate and captivating interviews by Rachel Zucker with poets and artists about quotidian objects, experiences or obsessions, Commonplace conversations explore the recipes, advice, lists, anecdotes, quotes, politics, phobias, spiritual practices, and other non-Literary forms of knowledge that are vital to an artist’s life and work. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Episode 98: Torrey Peters - Commonplace: Conversations with Poets (and Other People)

    Books by Torrey PetersDetransition, Baby (One World, 2021)Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones (self-published, 2016; revised edition forthcoming from Penguin Random House, 2022)The Masker (self-published, 2016; revised edition forthcoming from Penguin Random House, 2022)Also ReferencedTopside PressThe Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard, ed. Tom Leger and Riley MacLeod (Topside Press)Imogen Binnie, Nevada (Topside Press)Casey PlettIowa Writers WorkshopT. Fleishman, Time is a Thing The Body Moves Through (Coffee House Press) and Syzygy, Beauty (Sarabande Books)Darcey SteinkeDarcey Steinke, Flash Count Diary: Menopause and Vindication of Natural Life (Macmillan)FleabagThe First Wives ClubElena Ferrante, Neapolitan Novels (Europa Editions)Rachel Cusk, Outline Trilogy (Macmillan) and Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation (Picador)Jenny OffillSusan Sontag, Illness as a Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors (Picador)Rabih Alameddine, The Wrong End of the Telescope (Grove Atlantic)Zoe WhittalAlexander CheeKristen Roupenian, “Cat Person” (The New Yorker)Sylvia PlathVirginia WoolfKate Chopin, The Awakening (1899)Dave ChappelleE. M. Forster, Maurice (written 1913-1914, published 1971)Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality (1897)Jane the VirginSex in the CityFriendsSeinfeldThe SimpsonsCathy Park HongCathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian-American Reckoning (One World)

    1. Episode 98: Torrey Peters 01:28:38
    2. Episode 97: Camille Dungy 01:29:52
  • Interesting People Reading Poetry Podcast A podcast where artists & changemakers read a favorite poem and talk about what it means to them. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Musician Hrishikesh Hirway Reads William Butler Yeats - Interesting People Reading Poetry

    In this episode, Hrishikesh Hirway reads "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats. Hirway is the creator and host of several acclaimed podcasts, including Home Cooking (with Samin Nosrat), The West Wing Weekly (with Joshua Malina), and Song Exploder (which is now also a Netflix original series). On top of all that, Hirway manages a career as a composer and recording artist. At the beginning of this interview, you'll hear a short clip from his new single, "Between There and Here (feat. Yo-Yo Ma)." https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pu2x8Z3tA2Qzgl058WhGd "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats was written in 1888 and included in his second collection, The Rose, published in 1893. You can likely find an assortment of Yeats' books at your local independent bookstore. Keep up with Hrishikesh Hirway on Twitter, Instagram, and at hrishikesh.co. Click here to stream, download, or watch the music video for "Between There and Here (feat. Yo-Yo Ma)." Click here to explore all of Hirway's many wonderful ongoing projects. We feature one short listener poem at the end of every episode. To submit, call the Haiku Hotline at 612-440-0643 and read your poem after the beep. For the occasional prompt, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Subscribe on RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. This episode uses the sound "Banter Boys" by Nickleus from freesound, licensed under CC BY 3.0.

    1. Musician Hrishikesh Hirway Reads William Butler Yeats 15:00
    2. Editor Dawn Davis (Bon Appétit) Reads Edna St. Vincent Millay 10:46
  • The New Yorker Poetry Podcast Readings and conversation with The New Yorker's poetry editor, Paul Muldoon. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Amanda Gorman Reads Tracy K. Smith - The New Yorker: Poetry

    Amanda Gorman joins Kevin Young to read “Declaration,” by Tracy K. Smith, and her own poem “Ship’s Manifest.” Gorman served as the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, received a 2020 Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and, in 2021, became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history.

    1. Amanda Gorman Reads Tracy K. Smith 34:26
    2. Aria Aber Reads Frank Bidart 34:22
  • Poetry Foundation The Poetry Magazine Podcast The editors go inside the pages of Poetry, talking to poets and critics, debating the issues, and sharing their poem selections with listeners. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Srikanth Reddy and CM Burroughs on Margaret Danner - The Poetry Magazine Podcast

    This week, guest editor Srikanth Reddy and poet CM Burroughs dive into the world of Margaret Danner. Danner was a contemporary of Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes, whom she knew personally, but she never achieved the recognition she deserved in her lifetime. If you look for Danner’s poetry in your local bookstore, you won’t find anything in print. Recently, Burroughs connected with Danner, a poet from her lineage as a Black woman writing in America, but not through Danner’s poems—through her archival “hair-down letters.” Reddy and Burroughs talk about Danner, race in America, and also faith. Danner converted to Baha’i, a relatively new world religion devoted to the unity of all faiths, in the early sixties. Burroughs reads one of her poems titled “God Letter,” from her newest book Master Suffering, and we’ll hear two poems by Danner. We’re grateful to also share a bit from the choir at the Bahá'í House of Worship and their director of music, Van Gilmer. You can read more work by and on Margaret Danner, including CM Burroughs’s “Dear Margaret: An Epistolary Collaboration,” in the March 2022 issue.

    1. Srikanth Reddy and CM Burroughs on Margaret Danner 35:35
    2. Srikanth Reddy in Conversation with Jay Hopler and Kimberly Johnson 35:58
  • Poetry Foundation Poetry Off the Shelf Producer Helena de Groot explores the diverse world of contemporary poetry with readings by poets, interviews with critics, and short poetry documentaries. Nothing is off-limits, and nobody is taken too seriously. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Blossoms in Ukraine - Poetry Off the Shelf

    Oksana Maksymchuk and Oksana Lutsyshyna on life as a refugee, the God of comfort, and the deep roots of the war.

    1. Blossoms in Ukraine 01:02:05
    2. Listen for My Name 52:37
  • Poetry Foundation VS The VS podcast is a bi-weekly series where poets confront the ideas that move them. Hosted by poets Danez Smith and Franny Choi, produced by Daniel Kisslinger, and presented by the Poetry Foundation and Postloudness. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    All The Apostles are Black, All the Saints Queer, and All of Them Are Brave (Pt.2) - VS

    All The Apostles are Black, All the Saints Queer, and All of Them Are Brave: towards a queer canon (Pt.2)  Hello, hi Beloveds! Welcome back to the second installment of our Roll Call episode. We are your hosts, Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale, and we are sluts for history and sluts for discourse and are going to be picking the brains of our fabulous guests Koleka Putuma (featured in part 1) and Nakhane (featured in part 2) speaking all things blackness, South Africanness, craft, microaggressions, white twinks and black queer ancestors. We are joined in these episodes by voicenote interludes from black, queer South African artists Gugulethu Duma (aka Dumama who opens and closes the show), Lindiwe Mngxitama and Kneo Mokgopa. Special thanks to our magnificent producer, Maia McDonald, and our generous mentors, Danez Smith and Jenna Wortham, for holding space for us and holding our hands through the process.  Big, black, slutty love! Maneo & Kopano Hosted by: Kopano Maroga and Maneo Mohale Featuring: Nakhane, Kneo Mokgopa, and Gugulethu Duma Produced by: Maia McDonald

    1. All The Apostles are Black, All the Saints Queer, and All of Them Are Brave (Pt.2) 50:44
    2. All The Apostles are Black, All the Saints Queer, and All of Them Are Brave (Pt. 1) 48:12
  • Poetry Foundation Poem Talk Kelly Writers House impresario Al Filreis leads a lively roundtable discussion of a single poem with a series of rotating guests including Tracie Morris, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Erica Kaufman, Charles Bernstein, Sawako Nakayasu, Simone White, and others. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Better To Lose & Win: A discussion of Diane di Prima’s Revolutionary Letters - Poem Talk

    Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Lee Ann Brown, Kristen Gallagher, Laynie Browne.

    1. Better To Lose & Win: A discussion of Diane di Prima’s Revolutionary Letters 55:32
    2. Far in Toward the Far End: A discussion of George Quasha’s “preverbs.” 53:31
  • Poetry Foundation PoetryNow PoetryNow is a weekly four-minute radio series featuring some of today’s most accomplished and innovative poets who offer an acoustically rich and reflective look into a single poem. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    I Thought a Tree Dying - PoetryNow

    Sandra Doller meditates on aging and motherhood. Produced by Katie Klocksin.

    1. I Thought a Tree Dying 04:00
    2. I Saw This Day Coming 04:00
  • Poetry Foundation Essential American Poets Listen to Donald Hall's selection of classic American poets reading from their work. These recordings are being made available as the result of a collaboration between US and UK poet laureates Donald Hall and Andrew Motion. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Lorine Niedecker: Essential American Poets - Essential American Poets

    Recordings of poet Lorine Niedecker with an introduction to her life and work. Recorded at home in 1970. Recording courtesy of PennSound.

    1. Lorine Niedecker: Essential American Poets 15:46
    2. Gertrude Stein: Essential American Poets 17:14
  • Poetry Foundation Poetry Lectures Talks given by notable scholars and critics on poets, poetry, and their intersections with other art forms. Features recordings from historic archives and live events. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Malena Mörling and Jonas Ellström: International Poets in Conversation - Poetry Lectures

    Malena Mörling and Jonas Ellerström discuss Swedish poetry and the challenges of translation, and they read some poems in both Swedish and English from their anthology, The Star By My Head.

    1. Malena Mörling and Jonas Ellström: International Poets in Conversation 39:27
    2. Harris Khalique: International Poets in Conversation 40:10
  • Poetry Foundation Avant-Garde All the Time Poet Kenneth Goldsmith presents selections from UbuWeb, the learned and varietous online repository concerning concrete and sound poetry, experimental film, outsider art, and all things avant-garde. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    Driven by Sound Tracks - Avant-Garde All the Time

    An audio tour of films featuring Vito Acconci, Erik Satie, Vicki Bennett, Karl Holmquist, and more from the UbuWeb archive.

    1. Driven by Sound Tracks 29:46
    2. The Sound of Silence 20:11
  • Poetry Foundation Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast From the neighborhood library of Gwendolyn Brooks to the Union Stock Yards, where Chicago became Carl Sandburg’s “Hog Butcher for the World,” to the birthplace of slam poetry, the Chicago Poetry Tour explores the city’s history through its dynamic poets and poetry. Click play_circle_filled to listen to an episodecancelplay_circle_filled

    South Side Community Arts Center - Chicago Poetry Tour Podcast

    Established in 1940 by the WPA's Federal Art Project, the South Side Community Art Center has provided a second home for the city's African-American artists. Haki Madhubuti, founding editor of Third World Press, reads.

    1. South Side Community Arts Center 09:13
    2. Hall Library 24:28
  • Poetry Foundation Podcasts Audio recordings of poems and poetry-related podcasts: Poem of the Day, PoetryNow, the POETRY magazine podcast, VS, and more. cancel

• Articles

  • MasterClass 9 Creative Writing Exercises For Poets Writer’s block plagues writers of all kinds, but perhaps none more so than poets. Writing poetry is an exercise in patience, passion, and perseverance. From mining your surroundings to playing with literary devices, here are some exercises to help stimulate your imagination. cancel
  • Writing Forward 36 Poetry Writing Tips Check out this master list of the very best poetry writing tips. Try one or try them all. If you have any tips to add, share them in the comments. cancel
  • Writing Forward Writing Tips
  • Writing Forward Creative Writing Exercises

• Essentials

  • Amazon.com Poetry Books Online shopping for Poetry Books from a great selection of Regional & Cultural, Themes & Styles, Anthologies, Women Authors, Ancient, Classical & Medieval & more at everyday low prices. cancel
  • Amazon.com The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Winners Poetry who won The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry cancel
  • Sharon Jones Burn After Writing Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, TikTok, VSCO, YouTube... the world has not only become one giant feed, but also one giant confessional. Burn After Writing allows you to spend less time scrolling and more time self-reflecting. Through incisive questions and thought experiments, this journal helps you learn new things while letting others go. Imagine instead of publicly declaring your feelings for others, you privately declared your feelings for yourself? cancel
  • Moleskine Classic Notebook Moleskine classic notebooks are perfect notebooks for writing journals, a daily diary, or note-taking in college classes or meetings. Moleskine notebooks are beloved by travelers & bullet journalists for their slim design. cancel
  • Magnetic Poetry Kit Magnets That Reveal The Poet Within Dave Kapell, the founder of Magnetic Poetry, was suffering from writer's block while trying to compose song lyrics. To overcome this problem, he wrote down interesting words on pieces of paper and rearranged them, looking for inspiration. What he hadn't figured into this experiment were his allergies. One good sneeze and any progress was sent flying across the room. Dave decided to glue the words to pieces of magnets and stick them to a pizza tin. Then he got hungry and the now magnetized words made their way to the refrigerator door. Before too long, Dave wasn't the only one rearranging his would-be song lyrics. When friends came over, Dave noticed they started to move the magnets around, amusing themselves by writing the first magnetic poems. cancel

• Courses

  • MasterClass 10 Creative Writing Prompts for Story Ideas Whether you’re trying to start a new story, or struggling with writer’s block in the middle of one, ideas may seem difficult to come by. To discover your next novel or short story idea, exercise your creative writing muscle with this list of creative writing prompts and story starters that will mine your life experiences, passions, and imagination for inspiration. cancel
  • Coursera Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop Offered by California Institute of the Arts. Why just write poems when you can write better ones? This course is built on the notion that the most exciting writing begins after the first draft. It is specifically for folks who believe that writing poems just to express oneself is like using the Internet just for email. After all, poetry can change the way you and your readers think of the world and its inhabitants; it can break new ground for language; turn a blank sheet of paper into a teeming concert of voices and music. Though many of us may have the potential to make that happen, having an understanding of how several tools of poetic composition can be used (and audaciously “misused”) gives you more ways to try (and if we do this right, we might surprise ourselves most of all). We'll cover key poetic terms and devices by studying poems by a handful of modern and contemporary poets and then get a chance to try our own hand at writing new poem drafts from a select number of prompts. Throughout the course you will have the opportunity to workshop your poem drafts and get feedback on your work, working towards a more polished poem. cancel
  • Coursera Poetry Courses Poetry courses from top universities and industry leaders. Learn Poetry online with courses like Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop and Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”). cancel
  • Udemy Top Poetry Courses Online Learn Poetry today: find your Poetry online course on Udemy. cancel
  • Skillshare Online Poetry Classes | Start Learning for Free Discover classes on Poetry, Creative, Creative Insights, and more. Get started on Writing for Expression: How to Make Your Words More Artful & Lyrical cancel

• Blogs

  • Poetry Foundation Harriet The Poetry Foundation’s literary blog for poetry and related news. cancel
  • Read Poetry Blog Join this growing online community in exploring identity, diversity, and empowerment through poetry. Find exclusive interviews, recommendations, and more. cancel

• Websites

  • Hello Poetry The best place to read and share poetry on the internet The experiment we call Hello Poetry began in May 2009, which now seems a lifetime ago. I wanted an uncluttered, peaceful space to read and share poetry, so I started building one in my time after work. The site now serves over a million readers a month and is home to hundreds of thousands sharing their poetry. cancel
  • All Poetry The world's largest poetry site The web's largest poetry writing group - from beginners to experts. Improve your poetry, create a fan base, and read the best poetry of our generation. Allpoetry is home base for poets. See a poem you like? Click Follow then comment to show some love! cancel
  • Poetry Foundation Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 100-year archive of POETRY magazine. cancel

• Near You

  • Meetup Poetry Writing groups Find over 472 Poetry Writing groups with 207369 members near you and meet people in your local community who share your interests. cancel