Books To Teach the Poet:

[billy]

Place here a selected book title which you think would be a great learning tool for any budding poet. (just the title please, no links) ! book maximum per post.

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The Haiku Handbook

Book description:
The Haiku Handbook is the first book to give the reader everything needed to begin writing or teaching haiku. It presents haiku poets writing in English, Spanish, French, German, and five other languages on an equal footing with Japanese poets. Not only are the four great Japanese masters of the haiku represented (Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki) but also several major Western authors not commonly known to have written haiku.

The book presents a concise history of the Japanese haiku, including the dynamic changes throughout the twentieth century as the haiku has been adapted to suburban and industrial settings. Full chapters are offered on form, the seasons in haiku, and haiku craft, plus background on the Japanese poetic tradition, and the effect of translation on our understanding of haiku.

Other unique features are the lesson plans for both elementary and secondary school use; and lists of haiku publishers and magazines (in several languages). The Handbook concludes with a full reference section of haiku-related terms, bibliography, and a comprehensive season-word list to aid in understanding and appreciating Japanese haiku.

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Reason for choice:

while being one of the shortest forms of poetry, it take more than a bit of skill to write an excellent Haiku, while allowing those new to the form a chance to put out a worthwhile poem in a short time frame (nothing like seeing early result). in turn, writing haiku can be used as a stepping stone for writing other forms of poetry. It teaches a poet about process, both in thought and action. it gives a fairly easy yet strict regime to work in; that provides a skill all poets need, best of all it teaches the poet about image and how to show one in an original way.

[popeye]

The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry

an excerpt:
I have a dark and dreadful secret. I write poetry... I believe poetry is a primal impulse within all of us. I believe we are all capable of it and furthermore that a small, often ignored corner of us positively yearns to try it.

About the book:
Stephen Fry believes that if one can speak and read English, one can write poetry. Many of us have never been taught to read or write poetry and think of it as a mysterious and intimidating form. Or, if we have been taught, we remember uncomfortable silence when an English teacher invited the class to "respond" to a poem. In The Ode Less Travelled, Fry sets out to correct this problem by giving aspiring poets the tools and confidence they need to write poetry for pleasure.

Fry is a wonderfully engaging teacher and writer of poetry himself, and he explains the various elements of poetry in simple terms, without condescension. His enjoyable exercises and witty insights introduce the concepts of Metre, Rhyme, Form, Diction, and Poetics. Aspiring poets will learn to write a sonnet, on ode, a villanelle, a ballad, and a haiku, among others. Along the way, he introduces us to poets we've heard of, but never read. The Ode Less Travelled is a lively celebration of poetry that makes even the most reluctant reader want to pick up a pencil and give it a try.

OMG I must be writing in my sleep again, can't remember writing this, no wonder I woke up with a sore wrist this morning, no rude remarks allowed!!

[Leanne]

The Ode Less Travelled is absolutely top of my list. It's so much more accessible and interesting than that dry old boring bastard Turco and his ilk... I just wish it had been written when I was learning this stuff.

[billy]

it's one i haven't read though i may now it's been mentioned. as for Turcoand his ilk; they shall never be gazed upon by my eyes. (i took the liberty of adding something to your post, i stole it from a famous site but who cares)

[Johann]

My teacher introduced briefly how to write Haiku last Thursday in comparative literature class. I like Haiku!

[billy]

My teacher introduced briefly how to write Haiku last Thursday in comparative literature class. I like Haiku!

then drop a few in the Haiku and senryu forum there are a few bits of information in that particular forum about haiku.

[billy]

sounds disturbingly expletive . i'll check it out. thanks.