"Poetry is the school I attended to learn to write prose."~Vivian Paley
I studied and wrote poetry in college, and later found that writing picture books and writing poetry had much in common. Both use distilled language in a concentrated presentation. Every word counts. Both are frequently read aloud and both are generally more rhythmic, more musical forms than straight prose. This is true even of free verse. When I was asked by teachers to add another writing workshop, a poetry section came to mind. Past workshops have introduced students to basic poetic techniques I find useful in everything I write: metaphor, alliteration, economy, voice, tone, internal and slant-rhymes revision, meter and more. Each class opened with poems by a few of my favorite poets, poems meant to get students thinking, illustrate various techniques and to spark the workshop-long homework assignment: Write a poem or two or ten of your own. We write, read and discuss poems in each class. Download Clay's Poetic License:
~The Best Poetry Links~ Academy of American Poets Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate http://www.bigsnap.com/billy.html
Poetry Daily A new poem every day |
~The Best Poetry Links continued~ Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project ~Library of Congress Links~
Poetry 180 A Poem a Day for American High Schools from the Library of Congress web site http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ Library of Congress Webcasts http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/index.php http://www.poetrymagazine.org/
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