The Crafty Poet II Just Published

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At last, after three years of gathering material from my monthly Poetry Newsletter and many months of putting all that material into some kind of sensible order and more months of doing countless revisions and proofreading, The Crafty Poet II: A Portable Workshop has entered the world. This is the companion volume to the original The Crafty Poet. It can be used as a companion that picks up where the first book leaves off or it can be used as a stand-alone volume.

This craft book is divided into ten sections. Each section includes three Craft Tips, three model poems, three prompts, six sample poems written to the prompts, one Q&A with a poet about the craft elements in one of the poet's poems, and a Bonus Prompt. There's lots of good craft information on such topics as using humor, creating good titles, writing poems from photos, using sound devices such as anaphora, revision strategies, and so much more. The book also provides a rich anthology of contemporary poetry and enough prompts to keep you writing new poems for a long time.

Sixty-five poets contributed the Craft Tips, model poems, and Q&A poems. Among these poets are sixteen former and current state Poets Laureate. An additional forty-seven poets contributed the sixty sample poems. This group includes two former state Poets Laureate. I am enormously proud of the lineup of poets and the material they contributed to the book. Look for work by such poets as Tony Hoagland, Robert Wrigley, Ada Limon, Ellen Bass—way too many to name here. Find the complete list of poets HERE.

I hope that The Crafty Poet II, like its predecessor, will find its way into college and university classrooms. I hope that it will also prove useful in workshop groups. And I hope that individuals using it alone at home will profit from it. This is a versatile poetry tutorial that can be used in a classroom or group setting or by an individual learning on his or her own at home.

The Crafty Poet II is available at Amazon and B&N. It can also be ordered through your favorite bookstore. Bookstores and libraries may order through Ingram.