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

    505: You Are Who I Love - The Slowdown

    Today's poem is You Are Who I Love by Aracelis Girmay.

    1. 505: You Are Who I Love 11:36
    2. 504: What the Kids in Subtle Asian Traits Know 05:00
  • 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 90: Makenna Goodman - Commonplace: Conversations with Poets (and Other People)

    Books by Makenna GoodmanThe Shame (Milkweed, 2020)Other Texts, Artists, and Authors Mentioned in This EpisodeAmelie Nothomb's Strike Your Heart (Europa Editions, 2018)Angela Davis' Women Race and Class (Vintage, 1983)Sheila Heti’s Motherhood (Picador, 2019)Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste (Random House, 2020)Angela Davis' Women Race and Class (Vintage, 1983)Toni Morrison’s Beloved (Vintage, 2004)Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics)Robert A. Johnson’s Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche (HarperOne, 2009)Virginia WoolfAgnès VardaChantal AckermanPedro AlmodóvarD'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths (Delacorte, 1992)Julie BuntinPhilip RothKarl Ove Knausgaard Ben LernerOther Relevant LinksThe Mountain SchoolCommonplace has no institutional or corporate affiliation and is made possible by you, our listeners! Support Commonplace by joining the Commonplace Book Club: https://www.patreon.com/commonplacepodcast

    1. Episode 90: Makenna Goodman 01:48:53
    2. Episode 89: The Ladder Out of the Hole 01:08:22
  • 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

    Songwriter Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) Reads Gerard Manley Hopkins - Interesting People Reading Poetry

    In this episode, Grian Chatten reads “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Chatten is the frontman of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C., recently described by NME as "the new heroes of the rock resurrection." The members of the group met while attending music college in Dublin and initially bonded over a shared love for Irish literature. Their second album, A Hero's Death, has been nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and Jesuit priest who spent the last years of his life as a professor of Greek and Latin at University College Dublin. His poems were not published until 30 years after his death in 1889.“The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins appears in Gerard Manley Hopkins: The Major Works, published by Oxford University Press. Keep up with Fontaines D.C. on Twitter, Instagram, and at fontainesdc.com. Click here to watch the music video for "Big," the song heard briefly at the beginning of this episode. 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. https://radiopublic.com/interesting-people-reading-poetry-60aNDL/s1!a0944

    1. Songwriter Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) Reads Gerard Manley Hopkins 14:59
    2. Photographer Alec Soth Reads Wallace Stevens 15:16
  • 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

    Margaret Atwood Reads Saeed Jones - The New Yorker: Poetry

    Margaret Atwood joins Kevin Young to read “A Stranger,” by Saeed Jones, and her own poem “Flatline.” Atwood, a prolific poet and novelist, is known for brilliant books such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin.” Her many distinctions include the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, the pen Center U.S.A.’s lifetime-achievement award, and not one but two Booker Prizes, most recently for “The Testaments.” “Dearly,” her first collection of poetry in more than a decade, came out in November.

    1. Margaret Atwood Reads Saeed Jones 29:15
    2. Arthur Sze Reads Robert Hass 32:39
  • 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

    Joshua Bennett and Justin Rovillos Monson in Conversation - The Poetry Magazine Podcast

    In this week’s episode, Bennett and Monson get into literary ancestors, Monson’s top 5 rappers of all time, and what the future of poetry in this country might look like (if we are brave enough to invest in our young people).  Monson spoke to us from the Michigan Department of Corrections in Freeland, Michigan. His poems are featured in “The Practice of Freedom” issue, which focuses on poetry and visual art produced by artists who have been directly affected by the criminal legal system. Joshua Bennett guest edited the issue alongside Tara Betts and Sarah Ross.  In Bennett words, “Justin Monson is one of the most courageous, original, daring poets working today. I first encountered his work three years ago, as a judge for PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship, and was absolutely taken aback from the very first lines. The work shimmered. Monson has a fantastic ear, and a citational breadth that is truly a wonder to behold; it’s clear that he reads, and listens, to everything. Postcolonial theory, 90s hip-hop, erasure poetry. It’s all there. All of these traditions are part of the world Monson paints on the page, and is generous enough to share with us.”

    1. Joshua Bennett and Justin Rovillos Monson in Conversation 39:32
    2. Cathy Park Hong and Lynn Xu on the Poetry of Choi Seungja 44:33
  • 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

    The Landscape Within - Poetry Off the Shelf

    C. Dale Young on sugar cane fields, his favorite saint, and the machinations of the mind.

    1. The Landscape Within 45:23
    2. This Is a River 49:30
  • 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

    Ada Limón vs. Epiphany - VS

    The VS fam returns to kick off Season 5! After an announcement about the future of the show, we get into a great conversation with the wonderful poet Ada Limón. We talk birds, epiphanies, loneliness, and much more. Plus, a new game and a goofy-ass outro. Enjoy! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!

    1. Ada Limón vs. Epiphany 01:06:17
    2. Naomi Shihab Nye vs. Hope 01:10:44
  • 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

    A Way to Haunt Me: A discussion of “It All over My Face?” by Kevin Killian - Poem Talk

    Hosted by Al Filreis and featuring Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, Trisha Low, and Eric Sneathen.

    1. A Way to Haunt Me: A discussion of “It All over My Face?” by Kevin Killian 57:46
    2. A Way to Haunt Me: A discussion of “It All over My Face?” by Kevin Killian 57:46
  • 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 The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Winners Poetry who won The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry cancel
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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

• 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