What do you think?
Rate this book
How To Write It
This book is a masterclass in the craft of writing and poetry from one of Britain's most celebrated poets and educators, T.S. Eliot Prize nominee Anthony Anaxagorou.
Taking readers on a personal journey through his early life and school years, through to his relationship with literature, education poetry and writing, this book is filled with tips, anecdotes and publishing advice for anyone interested in getting their work seen. From Anthony's first slam win to the evolving British poetry scene, this book will provoke readers into thinking about their writing more carefully - be it a poem, short story or novel - and help them finally get their book out into the world.
Taking readers on a personal journey through his early life and school years, through to his relationship with literature, education poetry and writing, this book is filled with tips, anecdotes and publishing advice for anyone interested in getting their work seen. From Anthony's first slam win to the evolving British poetry scene, this book will provoke readers into thinking about their writing more carefully - be it a poem, short story or novel - and help them finally get their book out into the world.
176 pages, Paperback
Published October 15, 2020
18 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Anaxagorou
17 books59 followersAnthony Anaxagorou is a British-born Cypriot poet, fiction writer, essayist, publisher and poetry educator.
His poetry has been published in POETRY, The Poetry Review, Poetry London, Granta, Ambit, The Adroit Journal, The London Magazine, The Rialto and elsewhere. His poetry and fiction have appeared on BBC Newsnight, BBC Radio 4, ITV, Vice UK, Channel 4 and Sky Arts.
His second collection After the Formalities published with Penned in the Margins is a Poetry Book Society recommendation. It was selected as one of The Telegraph’s and The Guardian’s best poetry books of 2019 and shortlisted for the 2019 T.S Eliot Prize.
He was awarded the 2019 H-100 Award for writing and publishing, and the 2015 Groucho Maverick Award for his poetry and fiction. In 2019 he was made an honorary fellow of the University of Roehampton.
Anthony is also artistic director of Out-Spoken, a monthly poetry and music event held at London’s Southbank Centre, and is founder of Out-Spoken Press, an independent publisher of poetry and critical writing that aims to challenge the lack of diversity in British publishing.
He has toured extensively throughout Europe and Australia and his work has been studied in universities, schools and colleges across Europe and the USA.
His poetry has been published in POETRY, The Poetry Review, Poetry London, Granta, Ambit, The Adroit Journal, The London Magazine, The Rialto and elsewhere. His poetry and fiction have appeared on BBC Newsnight, BBC Radio 4, ITV, Vice UK, Channel 4 and Sky Arts.
His second collection After the Formalities published with Penned in the Margins is a Poetry Book Society recommendation. It was selected as one of The Telegraph’s and The Guardian’s best poetry books of 2019 and shortlisted for the 2019 T.S Eliot Prize.
He was awarded the 2019 H-100 Award for writing and publishing, and the 2015 Groucho Maverick Award for his poetry and fiction. In 2019 he was made an honorary fellow of the University of Roehampton.
Anthony is also artistic director of Out-Spoken, a monthly poetry and music event held at London’s Southbank Centre, and is founder of Out-Spoken Press, an independent publisher of poetry and critical writing that aims to challenge the lack of diversity in British publishing.
He has toured extensively throughout Europe and Australia and his work has been studied in universities, schools and colleges across Europe and the USA.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 23, 2021
I've been listening to this audiobook on and off, and it has been a pleasure.
It's so nice to have something that lays out the process of writing and publishing a book from start to end which isn't tedious to get through. I found a lot of parts to be extremely helpful and had to pause to make notes here and there. I particularly enjoyed how Anthony wove his own story of being a published author through it, he is as always, an incredible storyteller. It was humorous, informative and definitely one I will be re-listening to in the future.
Also the author has a lovely narration voice and should definitely narrate more books.
It's so nice to have something that lays out the process of writing and publishing a book from start to end which isn't tedious to get through. I found a lot of parts to be extremely helpful and had to pause to make notes here and there. I particularly enjoyed how Anthony wove his own story of being a published author through it, he is as always, an incredible storyteller. It was humorous, informative and definitely one I will be re-listening to in the future.
Also the author has a lovely narration voice and should definitely narrate more books.
December 29, 2021
I listened to the audiobook and it was so beautifully read (by the author) and so beautifully crafted. It was exactly the book I needed right now. A perfect end of year/beginning of year read for creatives, because it's reignited a spark for me.
November 14, 2020
I really loved the foreword in this book by Candice Carty-Williams. It was inspiring and a great start. There were some useful tips for newer writers in the rest of the book, supported by snippets of the authors own experiences.
Throughout were exercises aimed to get you thinking differently about how to begin a piece of work. It was more focused around poetry but some of the advice was useful for fiction writers too.
Actual rating more like 3.5 stars
many thanks to the publisher and Tandem Collective for the gifted book in exchange for an honest review
Throughout were exercises aimed to get you thinking differently about how to begin a piece of work. It was more focused around poetry but some of the advice was useful for fiction writers too.
Actual rating more like 3.5 stars
many thanks to the publisher and Tandem Collective for the gifted book in exchange for an honest review
September 7, 2022
Inspiring little book.
An author tells his story about writing poetry through his experience as a son to immigrant parents, tells about British educational system (which wasn't helpful to let his talent flourish) and his struggles in ordinary life before he finally broke through as a poet.
There some tips and exercises to try writing poems. Many practical information based on authors experience and knowledge.
If you like poetry you will find useful and interesting stuff for yourself 👌
An author tells his story about writing poetry through his experience as a son to immigrant parents, tells about British educational system (which wasn't helpful to let his talent flourish) and his struggles in ordinary life before he finally broke through as a poet.
There some tips and exercises to try writing poems. Many practical information based on authors experience and knowledge.
If you like poetry you will find useful and interesting stuff for yourself 👌
July 17, 2021
This is such a gem of a little book!
I’d highly recommend it to anyone. It is geared toward poetry writers but I think there are a lot of principles applicable to any genre and writer of any type of media. I don’t tend to read a lot of poetry and I think as he put it, perhaps the difficulty of consuming poetry lies within this tendency to think of things as correct or incorrect, rarely do we get asked to expand upon our interpretive skills.
It has a good overview from a historical perspective, covers the evolution of poetry, practical and personal advice, plenty of examples, resources, and writing exercises which were fun. It incorporates tidbits of the author’s life story which I enjoyed reading about. There is a lot to share in this book which fits in the palm of my hand, a lot packed into one little book. There is also mention of side grievances, social commentary, and political statement which I thought to be curious and personal.
What speaks to me most are the bits about giving yourself permission to play and interpret. I like the thoughts about creating spaces for the reader. I got a lot out of this book. Especially finding glory in unconventional ways with these stimulating exercises that helped to get a bit more perspective and establish better goals in writing.
I also like the glossary of terms.
I’ll be referencing it again.
Blog post
I’d highly recommend it to anyone. It is geared toward poetry writers but I think there are a lot of principles applicable to any genre and writer of any type of media. I don’t tend to read a lot of poetry and I think as he put it, perhaps the difficulty of consuming poetry lies within this tendency to think of things as correct or incorrect, rarely do we get asked to expand upon our interpretive skills.
It has a good overview from a historical perspective, covers the evolution of poetry, practical and personal advice, plenty of examples, resources, and writing exercises which were fun. It incorporates tidbits of the author’s life story which I enjoyed reading about. There is a lot to share in this book which fits in the palm of my hand, a lot packed into one little book. There is also mention of side grievances, social commentary, and political statement which I thought to be curious and personal.
What speaks to me most are the bits about giving yourself permission to play and interpret. I like the thoughts about creating spaces for the reader. I got a lot out of this book. Especially finding glory in unconventional ways with these stimulating exercises that helped to get a bit more perspective and establish better goals in writing.
I also like the glossary of terms.
I’ll be referencing it again.
Blog post
February 9, 2021
More poetry focused than I expected but really interesting - I really enjoyed the personal commentary and the opinions given regarding Instagram poetry, prize culture in publishing, rejection and self publishing. The information given about funding, agents and publishers was very informative and overall an engaging little book.
July 22, 2020
Great guide to learn how to write or be better at it. Author encourages us with various exercises and have brilliant ideas how to begin with writing. Your story matters, so just start.
Must have for all future authors.
*I also like the design of a book.
Must have for all future authors.
*I also like the design of a book.
July 3, 2023
Good little book with some handy tips for writers, it was focused more towards poetry writing which isn’t my thing but I found Anthony Anaxagorou’s writing nice to read and will be checking out his work.
January 11, 2024
I loved this book, I would recommend this for writers starting out in poetry or those who are just needing inspiration. It’s a quick read and was able to remind be about the lessons in failures as well as giving me motivation to write again.
July 23, 2024
This had some really helpful advice, especially the last few chapters with information about submitting work to magazines, agents and publishers. I liked that the author wants to make writing more accessible as a career choice to a wider group of people.
December 13, 2020
Really informative, up-to-date, motivational succinct and practical. No waffling or pretentiousness which I appreciated, plus a really cute design.
December 30, 2020
Perfect balance of literary non-fiction, beautifully designed and crafted with a depth and relatability that allows it to span books many times its length in just a fraction of the pages. Best writing guide I’ve ever read. My new writing bible.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews