Book Review: POEMS AND THEIR MAKING: A CONVERSATION Moderated by Philip Brady
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Poems and Their Making: A Conversation Moderated by Philip Brady |
| Etruscan Press, 2015 $23.95 |
Poems and Their Making: A Conversation isn’t the kind of book that you read through once and put away. In specific and individual ways, it is a peek inside the writing process of 31 accomplished poets. Whether a writer, reader, or both, we all want to know the secret to the mystifying process of writing poetry. While there is no definitive answer here or anywhere as to exactly how a poem comes to be, it is an endlessly fascinating process to talk about and this anthology creates a way for this conversation to be revisited.
Inspired by beloved and revered poet/professor, John Wheatcroft, “moderator” Philip Brady writes in his introduction, “No pronouncements here, just a conversation—a continuation of the dialogue Jack Wheatcroft nurtured for so many years [at Bucknell University].” And so Brady kicks off the conversation with a poem and essay written by Wheatcroft. This is basic model for each contribution, though sometimes the essay precedes the poem, or the lines of the poem are within the body of the essay. The poem and essay lengths vary, as well. Just as it can be an insightful experience to hear a poet read their own work, a poet writing about how their poem came to be, all the backstory, the edits, the time they spent away from it, the moment when it fell into place, is illuminating. Writing is hard work. But what does that work look like? This accessible collection gives its reader 31 personalized, concise approaches to writing poems from their inception, revisions, and completion.
This collection will give the reader a unique insight into the work of the writers they are already familiar with as well as poets they may not recognize or only know by name. In almost every instance, the reader is quickly invited into the poet’s life. The contributors divulge personal details about what was happening when they wrote and revised a particular poem, as Betsy Sholl does in her essay about writing “Redbud” which begins:
More often a poem’s original impulse seems mysterious and then just dogged revision takes over: try this, try that, turn it on its head, turn myself on my head, etc. With this one, however, there was a specific incident that got it going, then a long process of finding its real concerns, and having to wait until I experienced something else, a counter-story to play against it.
Others take a more philosophical view, not only recounting how this exact poem came to be but how they engaged in their own writing framework to create this particular piece. In Paula Closson Buck’s lively essay, “On “Elegy for My Novel,” she identifies and explains:
The Principle of Unforeseen Collapse—the first of several tendencies or inclinations governing poetic practice (mine at least) that, were they not so uncannily responsible for creation, would surely be the destruction of the poet.
There are in fact ten of these “tendencies or inclinations” and the rest are just as excellently named.
I did find my wishing the collection included citations or a reading list. Many of the poets refer to other poets they admire, they quote or summarize favorite morsels they use to keep going with their poetic practice. This would be a great way to continue the conversation, the lineage and legacy of writing, but it is sadly missing.
While some may want to read this book straight through, it’s so delicious, so fortifying, it’s also a manual, a source of inspiration when your writing life is drawing shallow breaths. When this collection is read in the intended sequence, elements from one essay echo in the next. But each voice in this conversation is unique, each offers wisdom worthy of close study as well as practical approaches to revision. I look forward to picking this book up again in a couple of months to see what insights speak to me next.