Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within

by Addonizio,Kim

• ISBN13: 9780393334166
• ISBN10: 0393334163
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780393346992
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-16
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• More Book Details

Summary

This all-new book, by the co-author of Companion , invites you to discover and enjoy your poetic self.Inspired by the gratifying success of Companion , Kim Addonizio presents exciting new insights into the creative process, craft, and the lessons of her own creative subjects--love, loss, identity, community--are here, along with a heady variety of writing exercises (and innovative ways to use the Internet). Chapters on gender, race, and class challenge readers to explore their creative vision more deeply, Addonizio, hailed for her passionate, award-winning poetry, shares her breakthroughs and frustrations frankly, including samples of rejection slips. She offers not only encouragement but also a wealth of knowledge about form and structure, metaphor and rhythm, revision, and that elusive goal: publishing."Poetry is not a means to an end," Addonizio maintains, "but a continuing engagement with being alive." Her generous guide is for beginners and experienced poets, for groups and in the classroom--indeed for anyone eager to glimpse the angel of poetry.

Author Biography

Kim Addonizio is the author of five books of poetry and coauthor with Dorianne Laux of The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry. A finalist for the National Book Award, Addonizio has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA Fellowships, and a Pushcart Prize. Her other books include two novels from Simon Schuster. She lives in Oakland, California, and can be visited on the Web at www.kimaddonizio.com.

Table of Contents

introduction	p. 13
entering poetry
leaping in the dark	p. 19
make a book	p. 23
first thought, worst thought	p. 27
getting started	p. 32
opening doors	p. 47
your genius, your demons	p. 55
line, breath & vision	p. 61
by heart: a Shakespeare sonnet	p. 77
describe this	p. 81
read this	p. 92
inner and outer worlds
identity 1: boys, girls & bodies	p. 99
three meditations	p. 109
by heart: a love poem	p. 113
love & sex poems	p. 115
me, myself & i	p. 127
what you don't know	p. 135
three observations	p. 145
the pain-body	p. 148
ha! working with humor	p. 156
identity 2: race, class & privilege	p. 164
the whiskey on your breath: addictions	p. 170
the poem's progress
metaphor 1: the shimmer	p. 179
white heat, necessary coldness	p. 187
a bag of tricks	p. 199
the poem's progress	p. 204
metaphor 2: parts & the whole	p. 217
enchantments: myths & fairy tales	p. 226
toward mastery
music & meter	p. 237
write a sonnet	p. 249
a poem you love: close reading	p. 256
page to stage: performance	p. 259
word/art: make a broadside	p. 263
two heads: collaborations	p. 269
do-overs & revisions	p. 273
publishing & the pinocchio syndrome	p. 287
mirror at the end of the road	p. 294
poems & poetry resources online	p. 299
recommended reading	p. 303
credits	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.