The Shape of Poetry: A Practical Guide to Writing Poetry

by Peter Meinke

Meinke, an eminent poet and short story writer, directed the Eckerd College Writing Workshop for over 30 years and taught in numerous settings before his retirement in 1993. Here he sets out the basics of what makes good poetry, and discusses poetry forms and the practicalities and realities of writing and rewriting. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

177 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jonathan Tennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s unfortunate that we, as a society, do not spend much time with poetry. Here is an easy way to correct that. From the minds of the Meinkes (Peter with Poetry, Jeanne with Illustrations) comes a quick, thorough primer for anyone who wants to give poetry another chance. Because come on, when those poems failed to get us the girl or guy, when we sat through lit class not knowing why we were reading the words of someone who’s been dead for almost 400 years, we really never gave poetry a chance.

Poets aren’t people who sit around coffee shops in turtlenecks and berets, poets are you and I and poetry is everywhere around us.

A wonderful book that I am so glad to own so I can re-read whenever I need another lesson from the masterful poet Meinke.

[Elissa Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the numbers analysis of poetry writing. Emphasis on structure, process, creation of internal framework. Beauty and language presented as "you'll feel it when you bang into it."

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an unpretentious, practical guide to reading and writing poetry. I highly recommend for students of poetry and anyone already into reading poetry. Readers of poetry will have find lots of insight into certain mechanics and processes that will enlarge the understanding and enjoyment of poetry. Meinke's use of examples throughout makes this more than instructional. The reader also finds joy in the chosen verses and reaches the end too soon.

[Ginni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would have been much stronger if Mr. Meinke had used examples from a number of different poets, rather than only his own work. Half of the pleasure of this kind of book is being exposed to poetry that I wouldn't have found on my own. (More importantly, I wasn't fond of his poetry, so I found myself skipping over them.)

The rest of the book is not bad, but other books have done it better. I recommend Mary Oliver's Rules for the Dance or A Poetry Handbook.

[Lisa Allender · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical guide for folks like me who need help in structure and proper use of line breaks. I write mostly free-verse, but also write alot of haiku. Peter Meinke's book excites with other forms!
personal note: I met him briefly at the International Festival of Reading at Eckerd College in 1999, when I was there to read my poetry as part of a Featured group of folks from Atlanta!