Poets wanted
If you were lured here by the title, thinking this was some sort of poet classified ad, eh, sorry about that. I'll admit, it was a little deceptive but I have to get people to come here somehow, right?What I mean by "Poets wanted" is that I'm looking to expand my poetic horizons so to speak and I'm not exactly sure where to start. I have a handful of poets and poetbloggers who are my favorites but I'm looking to add to the list. This is where you come in. I want to know what you like when it comes to poetry. Who do you recommend? Who are your favorites? Is there a certain poet or book of poetry I should be reading? What about poetry blogs, what are your favorites? Who are the best of the poetbloggers? Who should be put on the up-and-coming list? (I already have my own opinion but I'm curious about everyone else's.)
Tell me what you think. (Unless you think I suck, you can keep that to yourself.) Tell me which poets you love, which ones leave you feeling lukewarm. Tell me about your favorite poem or book of poetry, or who you think runs the best poetry blog. Tell me that picture is weird, I don't care. I want to get as much feedback as possible, so come on, let me hear it.
And for anyone who came here looking for the "poet wanted" section of the classifieds, let me know if you find one. That's a job I'd like to have.
posted by writingblind at 6:00 PM
19 Comments:
I love too many poets to list, and I very rarely read books of poems so I can't suggest anything there. My three most recent "finds" are Steve Kronen, Gary McDowell, and Bill Hicok. I found them through the WEE experience. I started doing the reviews on WEE so that people could see where I was coming from, poem-wise. It's been an interesting experiment.
Oh, and that picture is weird. :D
It is, isn't it? I like weird.
I read some of Gary McDowell's poems from No Tell and the reviews you did for a couple of them. Definitely different from what I've been reading. I'll have to check out your other recommendations and see what they're like.
Philip Larkin: The Less Deceived; High Windows
Josuha Mehigan: The Optimist
Greg Williamson: Errors in the Script
Some recent poetry collections that I think are excellent are:
The Men by Lisa Robertson;
Gutted by Evie Christie;
The Dagger Between Her Teeth by Jennifer LoveGrove; and,
drift by Kevin Connolly.
Pablo Neruda remains my first love.
Some of my favorite poets:
Galway Kinnell: Selected Poems
Carl Dennis: Practical Gods
Bridget Pigeen Kelly: Song and The Orchard
James Dickey: Collected Poems
Rilke
Who do you recommend? I would recommend Chris Abani
Who are your favorites? Chris Abani, Ben Okri, Boadiba, Sonia Sanchez, Maya Angelou
Is there a certain poet or book of poetry I should be reading? depends on your taste, comedy, romance, drama
What about poetry blogs, what are your favorites? I have some
Who are the best of the poetbloggers? feminineexpressions.blogspot.com
so far I like her sensual work, check it out.
I joined blogger back in May so I'm still new to the game and browsing at other blogs, so far it's been a great adventure meeting other bloggers and reading their personal entries.
Pablo Neruda is one of my favorites. His sonnet 17 is a poem I could read every day, without tiring of it.
I also like Lucille Clifton (homage to my hips) and this is even funny to me, but TS Eliot's The love song of j.alfred prufrock is amusing (I grow old … I grow old …I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.) and intersting to me. Im new to enjoying poetry, despite majoring in English long ago- I didnt enjoy poetry at all, and so while Ive read many poets, Ive felt only a few. I guess my tastes are still immature, but Im reading and appreciating poetry more everyday. And I like that.
Older Poets: Sharon Olds, Philip Levine, Lucille Clifton, Stephen Dunn
Newer Poets: Terrance Hayes, Ross Gay, Kim Addonizio
My advice: pick a poet and read all of his/her works, not just one book or a selected collection. When you read one book, you capture that period in time. But if you read all of their works, you get historical contexts, and you see how the poet has grown over the years.
I liken it to my collection of Beatles albums. You hear the 50s-60s influences back when everything was recorded in monotone. Later, you hear a progression. I think you can hear the break-up coming.
Wow, thanks to everyone who responded and welcome to delaleuverses. Some names I recognize and a few new ones too, which is what I was hoping for. It looks like I have a lot of reading to do so thanks again for the suggestions.
Try the Poetry Thursday blogs - I'm addicted! Loads of poems to read every Thursday with some really good bloggers 'playing'. You'll have to join in! As for poets to read, I love Billy Collins and Sharon Olds.
Sarah, thanks, I love Poetry Thursday. So much good poetry all at once. I love Billy Collins and Sharon Olds too.
Recent find that is blowing me away: Denise Levertov.
Also, very taken with David Whyte 's work(he does poetry reading in corporations...gotta love it.)
Next on my list to check out is Anne Michaels after someone sent me her poem Blue Vigour.
I've read some of her stuff before but she's definitely on my to-read list. Thanks for stopping by.
Hmmm..Favorites I haven't seen here yet:
Frost. yes, Frost, great place to learn simplicity and brevity and gorgeous gorgeous metaphor. If you ask me.
Elzabeth Bishop
Mary Oliver
Rumi
Levertov is required:)
Seamus Heaney
Neruda, yes, yes, plus Lorca if you can find him translated, and a bit of Machado and Ruben Darío
Sandra Cisneros' poetry is interesting, as well, and I recently read a new collection I liked called The Coven by Susan Deborah King
Everyone seems to be in love with Neruda so he definitely makes the to-read list. I like Seamus Heaney and Sandra Cisneros but Bishop, Frost, and Oliver intimidat me a little. And I'm definitely, definitely going to read some Levertov.
I love Neruda too, and Heaney, as well as Vislawa Szymborska...
Poetry Thursday does have some really great poets blogging too.
Poetry Thursday has some awesome poets blogging. Some of the best stuff I've read has come from there.
If you want to read some poetry, then go to www.poetrypoem.com/sandrapettrylarkins
This web site will also lead you to other poets.
Have you ever read HeartThrobs Scrapbook? You should read it.Good luck on your feedbacks.-Sandy
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