I am in the middle of reading a book Julene Weaver recommended, and it is terrific. Great section on workshops and on contests.

Poet's Guide: How to Publish and Perform Your Work

Mary Oliver's "Rules for the Dance" is quite good, for both writers and teachers of writing and/or Lit. She focuses on the "rules" of metrical verse in a very accessible way, with lots of good examples. I consult it often to brush up when teaching poetry in Lit courses.

Not sure it's still in print, but Barbara Drake's "Writing Poetry" offers all sorts of great exercises for writing just about any kind of poem one might encounter.

I just finished the Longenbach book and posted a brief review. I enjoyed it on many levels.

Thank you so much for this wonderful thread! I've been needing this exactly.

I enjoyed "The Art of the Poetic Line" by James Longenbach. Graywolf Press.

For those of you who teach poetry for personal growth, at-risk populations, or the general community (rather than advanced students), could you start -- or point me to -- a thread that maybe discusses how to find or begin such a program in your local community, resources in print and online, etc?

I've taught creative journaling at the public library to seniors and was a YA librarian for a low-income community a while. I loved both experiences and would like to do more.

Louise: Check out The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetry Forms--they are pretty much all in there.

I can find lots of books that teach traditional poetry forms. Does anyone know of good ones that teach ghazals, pantoums, villanelles, and other non-traditional forms? I'm trying to stretch myself. I wrote my first villanelle in Sept. using Bugeja's Craft of Poetry as a guide. And I love Marilyn Hacker's book that has only villanelles in it (can't remember the title).

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I believe that poetry is best learned by reading lots of poetry but my students are low in attention span as well as literacy skills. I have to start with where they connect. I used Tupac Shakur's book of poems to entice them in and to open up. I will look for some of these books to add to my repetorie.

I think The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms
Edited by Ron Padgett is great for teaching poetic forms from all over the world especially to kids.

To help introduce poetry to all ages interested I have used several books.

poemcrazy-freeing your life with words, by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridridge, is a very free form look at getting started writing poetry without being tied down to poetic structure.

Sleeping on the Wing By Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell is a wonderful anthology with poems by Whitman Ginsberg, Ashbery, Not only do the essays accompany these fines works, but writing prompts too.

For the serious student or more advanced class. A Test of Poetry by Louis Zukofsky. I have been pushing the benefits of this book for several decades. What he does is take poetry and let you decide what makes it work. Kind of like an auto mechanics guide to the inside of an engine.I continue to come back to this book as the guide for my own poetic ramblings. A valuable tool

Wendy: I've facilitated writing groups for at-risk youth, and I've found the Runaway with Words books to be quite helpful:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18289...

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26961...

The "Short Course on Poetry" book is probably best suited for only the very young (pre-teen), but the "Collection of Poetry" anthology includes the prompts and approaches that helped to generate the poems included in the book--lots of useful ideas.

Here's a few I've used/consulted in the last few years:

Richard Hugo Triggering Town- probably my most reread craft book that covers where/how to find inspiration, making individual lines interesting, and some essays about being a poet.

John Drury Creating Poetry- I used this fairly early in my writing, but also lately when I teach creative writing, but still flip through it now.

I also agree with others, Kowit's book is excellent.

Steve Kowit was my first poetry teacher almost 30 years ago(!), and I feel my debt to him every time I set pen to paper.

Thanks for the congrat, Nina, I love Kim Addonizio's work and will look for this book.
I am writing with youth who are homeless or live in economic hardship. In spring I will be volunteering with two groups, and I am applying for grant funding to create a project with their writings this summer. I am always looking for new writing ideas/suggestions.

I love The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach. This may be my personal favorite. In the classroom, I use both the Oliver and the Addonizio/Laux books above and can highly recommend them, too.

I have Kowit and find it quite useful. I also love The Poet's Companion by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux. Each chapter ends with several specific ideas/prompts for writing. This is a book I return to often.

The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry

I have the Kowit book, too, and remember liking it. It's one of the few I kept when clearing out my book collection last year. One of the others was Frances Mayes' Discovery of Poetry which I remember liking and intending to get back into. (Haven't done it)

Great thread, Nina.

The book I keep coming back to is Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook. This book does a great job of balancing between the necessary mechanics behind poetics while never dismissing the wonder that is also essential to poetry.

A Poetry Handbook

I love In the Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kowit.While I think more theoretical work is a good read too, if I really want to get writing, this is the book. Specific exercises that spur absolutely individual thought and expansive images. It introduced me to Dorianne Laux.
I am anxious to look up your suggestion though, Nina.

Thanks for this suggestion, Nina. To date, I have rarely seen a book specifically dedicated to revision. I'll have to check this one out.

Anybody want to share their most or least useful books on writing poetry? I have several, but I'll start with Poem Revised 54 Poems, Revisions, Discussions. Each chapter is basically an essay by a poet taking the reader through the steps of revising a specific poem to the point of acceptance for publication. It is fascinating to read the different processes writers go through.Poem, Revised: 54 Poems, Revisions, Discussions