The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry

Addonizio and Laux are lively spokespersons for the poet's life; they pepper their thoughts with well-chosen poems from their contemporaries--including David Bottoms, Jack Gilbert, Linda Gregg, and Jane Kenyon--and they conclude each short chapter with an invigorating collection of ideas for writing. These "ideas" culminate in a terrific section of writing exercises at book's end: write a poem describing "your most acutely embarrassing moment"; "write a poem of praise for an unlikely group of people, things, ideas"; "write a poem about the last time you saw a loved one you lost." I found myself a bit frustrated by the brevity of the discussions (most chapters are under 10 pages) and a bit put off by the first person plural narrative (do Addonizio and Laux really agree on everything they say they agree on?), but these are mere quibbles. This is a fine book indeed. --Jane Steinberg

Product Description
From the nuts and bolts of craft to the sources of inspiration, this book is for anyone who wants to write poetry--and do it well. In this fortuitous collaboration, two spirited poets, themselves teachers of poetry, offer guidance to aspiring beginners and those who have already published. Brief essays on the elements of poetry, technique, and suggested subjects for writing are each followed by distinctive writing exercises. ("Compare an actual family photograph with one that was never taken, but might have been.") The ups and downs of the writing life--including the inevitable visitations of self-doubt and writer's block--are here, along with tips about getting published. A special section contains twenty-minute writing exercises, and valuable appendixes cover further reading and marketing advice. On your own, this book can be your "teacher," while groups, in or out of the classroom, can profit from sharing weekly assignments. Numerous examples of contemporary poetry, chosen for relevance and freshness, illustrate salient points and stimulate the imagination. By calling on their own experience and focusing on living American writers for their models, the authors introduce you to poetry as it is right now.

But this one is different. It is incredibly readable for a start, manages to be warm and friendly and funny at the same time as showing new ways to look at the craft of writing. The best example I can give you is the chapter on grammar ... a terrifying ordeal for a great many of us. But somehow this pair have managed to make it INTERESTING and INSPIRING! They are like the sort of English teacher you wish you could have had at High School. Remember Robin Williams in "Dead Poets Society"? Now you get the picture.

Look, I could go on for hours on this book. Beg, borrow or steal a copy for yourself. This book brought me to tears - all I kept thinking was that it was exactly the book that I needed right now. Try it. You'll agree.


a great guide   May 21, 2003
adead_poet@hotmail.com (Beaumont, tx USA)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

It comes as no surpise (since Dorianne Laux is a great poet and Addonzio is one of the best of her generation) that this is a great guide to writing poety (I love the subtitle: "A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry"-- note the pleasures). And it's good for any level of experience. It has a lot to teach the beginner, a help to the intermediate, and even the advanced student of poetry can get some ideas from this book. The first section of the book covers some subjects for writing, including family, death, and the erotic. Most of the book discussing the craft of poetry. The chapters deal with images, simile and metaphore, the line, voice, dreams and experiments, meter and rhyme, repetition and rhythm, the villanell, panotoum, and sestina, grammr, and revision. Then they have a section titled "The Writing Life" which deals with self-doubt, writer's block, getting published, and the internet. Most of the chapters end with writing exercises, to help give you ideas for poems and practice at writing. And at the end of the book they have their "Tweny-Minute Wriitng Exercises." Addonizio and Laux chose, in general, great poems to illustrate whatever they are discussing. And the book even has several useful appenices: Books on Poetry and Writing; Anthologies for Further Reading; Finding Markets for Your Poems; and More Resources for Writers. It's a great guide and useful teaching tool, and told in a conversational, interesting voice. It's a purchase no poet will regret.


Simply one of the best books in the field   November 14, 1998
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Laux and Addonizio have put together a supurb collection of essays, examples and ideas for poets and writers at all levels of accomplishment. The chapters are short, readable, written with ease and authority. The example poems they use are invariably superb and illustrative. Laux and Addonizio are particularly adept at demystifying the writing process for beginnners. The appendices in the back provide valuable information on a range of writing resources, such as literary internet sites, annotated lists of poetry anthologies and other books on writing. There are countless middle-of-the-road guidebooks on poetry writing, sometimes helpful, often cumbersome, lofty or skewed in their aesthetic toward the precious or the academic. The Poet's Companion is fresh, unpompous and sound through and through. As a veteran high school creative writing teacher, and a poet with two books of my own out, I speak from some experience. --Douglas Goetsch


My companion   March 31, 2006
Adelina Cavanagh (NYS)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful

I love poetry, writing it and reading it, but I took a mysterious hiatus from the poetical life for about twenty years and have just come back into the fold. I bought this book, hoping it would stir my inner seas to write again. And it most assuredly has. The chapters focus on subjects for writing poetry and conventions of the craft itself. Each chapter has extensive examples of poems on that topic and gives many exercises to try, or not try, whatever pleases you at the moment. There are also "twenty minute" exercises in the back, but I've spent hours or days creating poems from that resource. For poets interested in publishing, there are a few chapters on this enterprise, but sadly, some of the web links are out of date, since the book was written in 1997. So much has changed on the Web since then. Although I've read the book from beginning to end, now I randomly open to any chapter, select an exercise to try and write away. There is so much material here that I can see myself using their exercises for years. So the price of the book is well worth it. I often experience "writer's block," hence the twenty year layoff, but because I am generally an agile writer, all I usually need is a gentle nudge in a certain direction. Some might argue that a "true" poet doesn't need some book to spur them into writing. Well that's possibly true or possibly not, but when my muse has flown, I need some tangible evidence that she still exists. Perhaps this book helps me with that issue, maybe it will help you too.

This is a great book for both beginners who know little about the stylistic concerns of poetry as well as veterans of the craft who need a resource to tap into once in a while. I also think this would be a great book for a poetry writing class or workshop. Anyone who wants to write good poetry should have this book, preferably on the desk within reach. You never know when your muse will call; you need to be ready when she does.


No excuse not to write like a maniac   July 20, 1999
BookDoc (Cape Girardeau, MO)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This terrific handbook contains not only logical and stimulating discussions of the subjects and styles that make up poetry--it also has a treasuretrove of writing exercises, a la Hugo's "triggering town," that spur on even a poet in a lethargic phase to experiment in a wide range of poetic possibilities. The suggestions for writing are some of the best I've ever seen; I'll be using many of them in my teaching.

Functional AND entertaining. With this book by your side, there's no excuse not to Write On.