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The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice
The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice (Published by Two Sylvias Press) offers a unique writing prompt for every day of the year. Created by poets for poets, this calendar of exercises offers inspiration and a place to begin. Whether you are a novice or well-established author, The Daily Poet is an essential resource for poets, teachers, professors, or anyone who wants to jumpstart their writing practice. The Daily Poet is portable, coffeeshop tested, and offers quick warm-ups for any writing group or classroom. An excellent guide for students, The Daily Poet is also a handy reference for poets looking for fresh ideas to share in their writing workshops.
390 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 8, 2015
118 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
Kelli Russell Agodon
17 books180 followersKelli Russell Agodon is a prize-winning poet, writer, and editor from the Northwest.
Kelli Russell Agodon’s newest book is Dialogues with Rising Tides from Copper Canyon Press. She is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press as well as the Co-Director of Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Retreat for Women. Her last book, Hourglass Museum, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Awards and shortlisted for the Julie Suk Poetry Prize. She is the author of Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room (White Pine Press, 2010), Winner of the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Prize in Poetry, and a Finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She is also the author of Small Knots (2004) and the chapbook, Geography (2003). She co-edited the first eBook anthology of contemporary women’s poetry, Fire On Her Tongue, and recently published The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice, a book of poetry writing exercises she coauthored with Martha Silano.
She’s received awards from the Poetry Society of America, the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Foundation, James Hearst Poetry Prize, Artist Trust, and the Puffin Foundation. Agodon lives in a sleepy seaside town in Washington State on traditional land of the Chimacum, Coast Salish, S'Klallam, and Suquamish people where she is an avid paddleboarder and hiker. She serves on the poetry faculty at the Rainier Writing Workshop, a low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University.
She writes about living and writing creatively on her blog, Book of Kells at: www.ofkells.blogspot.com
Visit her at www.agodon.com or on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/agodon
Twitter: @kelliagodon
Instagram: @kelliagodon
Or write to her directly at: kelli (at) agodon.com
For more information on Kelli, please visit: www.agodon.com
Kelli Russell Agodon’s newest book is Dialogues with Rising Tides from Copper Canyon Press. She is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press as well as the Co-Director of Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Retreat for Women. Her last book, Hourglass Museum, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Awards and shortlisted for the Julie Suk Poetry Prize. She is the author of Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room (White Pine Press, 2010), Winner of the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Prize in Poetry, and a Finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She is also the author of Small Knots (2004) and the chapbook, Geography (2003). She co-edited the first eBook anthology of contemporary women’s poetry, Fire On Her Tongue, and recently published The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice, a book of poetry writing exercises she coauthored with Martha Silano.
She’s received awards from the Poetry Society of America, the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Foundation, James Hearst Poetry Prize, Artist Trust, and the Puffin Foundation. Agodon lives in a sleepy seaside town in Washington State on traditional land of the Chimacum, Coast Salish, S'Klallam, and Suquamish people where she is an avid paddleboarder and hiker. She serves on the poetry faculty at the Rainier Writing Workshop, a low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University.
She writes about living and writing creatively on her blog, Book of Kells at: www.ofkells.blogspot.com
Visit her at www.agodon.com or on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/agodon
Twitter: @kelliagodon
Instagram: @kelliagodon
Or write to her directly at: kelli (at) agodon.com
For more information on Kelli, please visit: www.agodon.com
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 27, 2013
The Daily Poet is a marvelous set of prompts and ideas for writing -- one for each day of the year! What I love the most about reading these poetic prompts are the little bits of knowledge and insight that open creative doors for me. I learned little things -- little insightful fun things -- about Salvador Dali, about Dizzy Gillespie, about patents, about language and Walt Whitman and about the construction of the universe! All of these thoughts set my head spinning in creative fervor -- exactly the authors' intent.
As another commentator wrote, think of this book as a poetic Book of the Hours (a medieval book holding prayers keyed to specific hours of the day or days of the week), and your daily writing practice may come alive. Great ideas and thought-provoking prompts bring ideas alive.
The only critique I have of this marvelous little book is that the examples and ideas are too largely from older white male writers. Annie Dillard is mentioned -- but I was saddened not to find a single quote from writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Zora Neale Hurston, National Book Award Winner Ursula Le Guin or bell hooks. These writers have been a profound influence on me, and I was saddened at their omission.
As another commentator wrote, think of this book as a poetic Book of the Hours (a medieval book holding prayers keyed to specific hours of the day or days of the week), and your daily writing practice may come alive. Great ideas and thought-provoking prompts bring ideas alive.
The only critique I have of this marvelous little book is that the examples and ideas are too largely from older white male writers. Annie Dillard is mentioned -- but I was saddened not to find a single quote from writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Zora Neale Hurston, National Book Award Winner Ursula Le Guin or bell hooks. These writers have been a profound influence on me, and I was saddened at their omission.
November 4, 2013
I am a bit of a prompt snob. There... I admitted it. Oh sure it is fine to occasionally use simple little prompts that may or may not spur fits of writing (and I know I've been guilty of dishing some of those out) but I wouldn't want to buy a whole book of them. This book, on the other hand, is filled with so many great prompts, you could generate material to keep you writing for years. There is a depth in the prompts that make you think in layers. These prompts are thorough and solid. No fluff. There are prompts that stir memories and prompts that make you want to research and learn more about a topic. And there are prompts specific to an event or a date, but not in a way that makes you roll your eyes and want to skip the page. Some of the prompts even give you extra credit for digging deeper. I am torn because I want to read all of the prompts straight through, but as soon as I start reading them, I want to put the book down and start writing.
Even if poetry *isn't* your genre, you will find this book helpful. If you write fiction, flash fiction, memoir, non-fiction, screenplays, essays or just write in a journal (or create in an art journal), you will find this book helpful. It is all about generating lots and lots of ideas. And it is a great value. Three hundred and sixty-six prompts (yes, even one for leap year) for less than $.04 a day (in paperback), and you will most likely use the book over and over so eventually it is like getting it for free. :)
I am hopeful that they are working on a second volume.
Even if poetry *isn't* your genre, you will find this book helpful. If you write fiction, flash fiction, memoir, non-fiction, screenplays, essays or just write in a journal (or create in an art journal), you will find this book helpful. It is all about generating lots and lots of ideas. And it is a great value. Three hundred and sixty-six prompts (yes, even one for leap year) for less than $.04 a day (in paperback), and you will most likely use the book over and over so eventually it is like getting it for free. :)
I am hopeful that they are working on a second volume.
October 30, 2013
For those of you who love to write but are often stuck needing inspiration, or because you are waiting for the muse to strike, this is a highly recommended book. It has prompts for each day of the year. I, dutifully, started with the October prompts because that’s when I got the book, although now having flipped through the pages, I know I will be cheating every now and then to pick the prompts that I absolutely want to attempt first.
The book is titled The Daily Poet but I am a prose writer and that’s what I am using it for. So the prompts are most definitely customizable. They are fun and like little unexpected gifts, because each is fresh and not in the least repetitive. I have particularly enjoyed the ones that have prompted me to think about food in unexpected ways (for example, writing about breakfast at my home) or history (the Great Chicago Fire of 1871) or landscape (writing about a city whose name you love).
So go ahead and pick up a copy today!
The book is titled The Daily Poet but I am a prose writer and that’s what I am using it for. So the prompts are most definitely customizable. They are fun and like little unexpected gifts, because each is fresh and not in the least repetitive. I have particularly enjoyed the ones that have prompted me to think about food in unexpected ways (for example, writing about breakfast at my home) or history (the Great Chicago Fire of 1871) or landscape (writing about a city whose name you love).
So go ahead and pick up a copy today!
December 11, 2013
The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice by Kelli Russell Agodon & Martha Silano.
Reviewed by Rachel Rose
I am not a poet who uses prompts. Generally, I have adhered to the notion that poems should come through sheer force of inspiration or will, without help from outside forces. But when I learned that Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano (two poets whose work I admire; disclaimer: I am acquainted with the former) had published this book, I decided to investigate. I'm happy to report I found much to admire, and much to inspire as well. Organized with a prompt for each day of the year, The Daily Poet is also a literary, linguistic and artistic romp that will encourage poets to let their imaginations roam, to risk thinking of language and innovation in new ways, and to delve into the serious play that is creating poetry. Consider, for example, January 27th, where the prompt requires you to circle all of the words that interest you in a newspaper article, and then to use these words in new ways. The authors came up with "fracking" as one example, and suggested "fracking one's heart." What an exciting turn of phrase! All poets, whether emerging or launched, can benefit from the encouragement and inspiration that The Daily Poet offers. It also delivers a poetic education, incorporating links to poems read by famous poets en route. If I had one request, it would be more prompts that engage with traditional forms. While there are terrific poem prompts for list poems, ekphrastic verse and couplets (among others) I know I'm not alone in loving the rigorous challenges of formal verse, and students tend to respond to such prompts with some of their best work. But this is a minor quibble--The Daily Poet delights. Now excuse me; I'm off to write a Curse. (June 2nd).
Reviewed by Rachel Rose
I am not a poet who uses prompts. Generally, I have adhered to the notion that poems should come through sheer force of inspiration or will, without help from outside forces. But when I learned that Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano (two poets whose work I admire; disclaimer: I am acquainted with the former) had published this book, I decided to investigate. I'm happy to report I found much to admire, and much to inspire as well. Organized with a prompt for each day of the year, The Daily Poet is also a literary, linguistic and artistic romp that will encourage poets to let their imaginations roam, to risk thinking of language and innovation in new ways, and to delve into the serious play that is creating poetry. Consider, for example, January 27th, where the prompt requires you to circle all of the words that interest you in a newspaper article, and then to use these words in new ways. The authors came up with "fracking" as one example, and suggested "fracking one's heart." What an exciting turn of phrase! All poets, whether emerging or launched, can benefit from the encouragement and inspiration that The Daily Poet offers. It also delivers a poetic education, incorporating links to poems read by famous poets en route. If I had one request, it would be more prompts that engage with traditional forms. While there are terrific poem prompts for list poems, ekphrastic verse and couplets (among others) I know I'm not alone in loving the rigorous challenges of formal verse, and students tend to respond to such prompts with some of their best work. But this is a minor quibble--The Daily Poet delights. Now excuse me; I'm off to write a Curse. (June 2nd).
December 31, 2015
I have used this for eight days in a row so far. I love it. This is the jumpstart and motivation I needed. It's fun, short, easy, creative and working! Thanks, beautiful poets! P.S. as of Dec. 31 I used this every day and filled two journals. I ended up with about 21 new, usable poems.
June 25, 2020
At first glance, the prompts looked rather dull and simple. You maybe think!!! There's some sort of challenge built into each one if you really start drafting and thinking. I search thru this for poets group prompts. They're always appreciated.
December 30, 2014
Excellent collection of prompts from two working contemporary poets. I am going to use this to guide me into 2015.
January 2, 2015
A clever book of daily prompts. What I liked best were the reminders that poetry doesn't need to be serious, that playing with words and being silly can be a thought-provoking part of the process. Worth the price. Something I'll come back to for inspiration.
December 3, 2020
I love this. I lived with this book for two years and completed a good majority of the prompts. Unique and fabulous, very accessible writing prompts, including some bonus challenges with some. This will not disappoint.
October 16, 2022
I bought this a year ago while on my sabbatical, and I faithfully wrote based on the prompts for a year. Sporadically, but I still engaged with their prompts for 12 months. Nice to have somebody tell me what to write, so I'll keep this nearby for another year.
January 11, 2019
Great for prompting daily writing!
November 12, 2019
Looking for some inspiration?
Want to dabble in poem-ish writing?
This might be a fun resource to light that fire.
I'm always curating my Spark! collection and Kelli Agodon has some good ones.
Want to dabble in poem-ish writing?
This might be a fun resource to light that fire.
I'm always curating my Spark! collection and Kelli Agodon has some good ones.
January 11, 2022
I love a good poetry prompt! I have had and continue to have plenty of ideas of my own, but I enjoy reading through prompts and executing them as is or manipulating them to varying extents. I don't like dull, simplistic prompts like, "write about something orange" or "write about the wind". Sure, you can extend those out and take them in an infinitely number of directions. There is a sweet spot to how much prompting and prodding one provides b/c the other end of the spectrum is an entirely too detailed, micro-managing prompt!
Agodon's prompts found that sweet spot with just enough description and background to start turning the gears of imagination without dictating exactly what to write. There is a great mix of prompts here in these 366 ideas! Check this book out; it's well worth it!
Agodon's prompts found that sweet spot with just enough description and background to start turning the gears of imagination without dictating exactly what to write. There is a great mix of prompts here in these 366 ideas! Check this book out; it's well worth it!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews