poetry month

Writing Poetry

April 5, 2016 by Amanda VerMeulen

image: Magnetic Fridge Poetry by Steve Johnson [cropped from original] / https://flic.kr/p/86i9j2

Celebrate National Poetry Month by dusting off your journal and putting down a few lines of verse.

Need help getting started? Check out (literally) this selection of books about writing poetry available in the SMCM Library collection!

Want more? Try searching poetry AND (creative writing OR authorship) OR poetics using the search for words in… subject dropdown option on the search page in the St. Mary’s Catalog.

Writing Poetry Books

How poems think by Reginald Gibbons. Ebook

Poem-making: ways to begin writing poetry by Myra Cohn Livingston. Call number: LB 1576 .L578 1991

Today you are my favorite poet: writing poems with teenagers by Geof Hewitt. Call number: PN 1101 .H46 1998

Helping students learn to write poetry: an idea book for poets of all ages by Joyce C. Bumgardner. Call number: LB 1576 .B889 1997

Next word, better word: the craft of writing poetry by Stephen Dobyns. Call number: PN 1059 .A9 .D63 2011

The poetry home repair manual: practical advice for beginning poets by Ted Kooser. Call number: PN 1059 .A9 .K66 2005

Twentieth-century American poetics: poets on the art of poetry edited by Dana Gioia, David Mason, and Meg Schoerke with D.C. Stone. Call number: PS 323 .5 .T87 2004

Thirteen ways of looking for a poem: a guide to writing poetry by Wendy Bishop. Call number: PN 1059 .A9 .B58 2000

Blue notes: essays, interviews, and commentaries by Yusef Komunyakaa; edited by Radiclani Clytus. Call number: PS 3561 .O455 .Z463 2000

Rules for the dance: a handbook for writing and reading metrical verse by Mary Oliver. Call number: PE 1505 .O37 1998

Trying to say it: outlooks and insights on how poems happen by Philip Booth. Call number: PS 3503 .O532 .Z475 1996

Poemcrazy: freeing your life with words by Susan G. Wooldridge. Call number: PN 1059 .A9 .W66 1996

A poetry handbook by Mary Oliver. Call number: PE .1505 .O35 1994

Writing poems by Peter Sansom. Call number: PN 1059 .A9 .S36 1994

Getting the knack: 20 poetry writing exercises by Stephen Dunning and William Stafford. Call number: PN 1059 .A9 .D86 1992

Poem-making: ways to begin writing poetry by Myra Cohn Livingston. Call number: LB 1576 .L578 1991

Writing light verse and prose humor by Richard Armour. Call number: PN 1042 .A7 1971

The sounds of poetry: a brief guide by Robert Pinsky. Call number: PN 4151 .P55 1998

Beyond JSTOR: Poetry Criticism Online

April 5, 2016 by Amanda VerMeulen

Today we’re launching a new series “Beyond JSTOR” where we’ll periodically highlight different databases available through the SMCM Library. Find out both the content as well as a few targeted tips and tricks through screenshot tutorials and expand your searching horizons.

Poetry Criticism Online

Note: SMCM Library databases are found by: 1. going to the library homepage (library.smcm.edu/); 2. clicking the “Databases” icon; and searching by name or browsing by A-Z letter.

Accessible online through the Literature Criticism Online database, the Poetry Criticism series encompasses over 100 volumes, each volume featuring 3-6 poets and/or featured works from all eras and locations around the world.

Each volume has a standard format including:

a biographical essay with an image or portrait if available
a bibliography of poet’s work
selection of literary criticism on the poet and/or individual works with full, preformatted citations
source lists to direct additional research

The online version available through Literature Criticism Online, has powerful search, browse, and entry table of contents features highlighted below. Use the linked text to jump to the relevant screenshot sections.

How to…

1. Limit your search to Poetry Criticism Online sources, by selecting it from the “by Product/Services” dropdown, under “More Options” in the search screen.

2. Forget to select it before starting your search? You can always limit search results to Poetry Criticism Online sources but selecting it under the “Publication Title” filter in the left column.

Browse

1. Browse the volumes of Poetry Criticism by following “What’s Inside” (on any page), and selecting “Literature Criticism Online”…

2. …then expand the list under “Poetry Criticism” to see all available volumes.

3. Browse volume by table of contents, search within a single volume, or search within all volumes of Poetry Criticism!

Entry table of contents feature

1. Easily view the available content on a poet by selecting “Entry Table of Contents” in the right hand column.

2. Jump to a specific section or critical work using the linked titles.

Search

Limit your search to Poetry Criticism Online sources, by selecting it from the “by Product/Services” dropdown, under “More Options” in the search screen.

Forget to select it before starting your search? You can always limit search results to Poetry Criticism Online sources but selecting it under the “Publication Title” filter in the left column.

Return to top

Browse

Browse the volumes of Poetry Criticism by following “What’s Inside” (on any page), and selecting “Literature Criticism Online”…

…then expand the list under “Poetry Criticism” to see all available volumes.

Browse volume by table of contents, search within a single volume, or search within all volumes of Poetry Criticism!

Return to top

Entry table of contents feature

Easily view the available content on a poet by selecting “Entry Table of Contents” in the right hand column.

Jump to a specific section or critical work using the linked titles.

Return to top

Poetry and Nature / Nature and Poetry

April 5, 2016 by Amanda VerMeulen

Celebrate National Poetry Month’s Poem in Your Pocket Day (on April 21) AND Earth Day (on April 22) with a nature or environmental themed poem.

Need a suggestion? Check out (literally) this selection of nature/environmental poetry and criticism available in the SMCM Library collection!

Want more? Try searching poetry AND (nature OR ecology) using the search for words in… subject dropdown option on the search page in the St. Mary’s Catalog.

Poetry and Criticism Books: Nature and Environmental Themed

Sustainable poetry: four American ecopoets by Leonard M. Scigaj. Call number: PS 310 .N3 .S38 1999

Can poetry save the earth?: a field guide to nature poems by John Felstiner. Call number: PS 310 .N3 .F45 2009

Mountain home: the wilderness poetry of ancient China selected and translated by David Hinton. Call number: PL 2658 .E3 .M65 2005

Greening the lyre: environmental poetics and ethics by David W. Gilcrest. Call number: PS 310 .N3 .G55 2002

Black nature: four centuries of African American nature poetry edited by Camille T. Dungy. Call number: PS 591 .N4 .B49 2009

Urban nature: poems about wildlife in the city edited by Laure-Anne Bosselaar. Call number: PS 595 .N22 .U63 2000

Wild song: poems of the natural world edited by John Daniel; illustrations by Deborah Randolph Wildman. Call number: PS 595 .N22 .W55 1998

Poems for a small planet: contemporary American nature poetry edited by Robert Pack and Jay Parini. Call number: PS 595 .N22 .P63 1993

Pterodactyl Rose: poems of ecology by William Heyen. Call number: PS 3558 .E85 .P74 1991

Rivers to the sea by Sara Teasdale. Ebook

A chime of windbells: a year of Japanese haiku in English verse. Translations with an essay by Harold Stewart. Call number: PR 6037 .T4645 .C5

The haiku anthology: haiku and senryu in English edited by Cor van den Heuvel. Call number: PS 593 .H3 .H34 1999

Hilda C. Landers Library & Archives