Master Poetry Forms

If you could find your form, what would you create?

Master Poetry Forms is the first truly comprehensive and comprehensible book about poetic forms which helps you see both the forest and the trees. It's time to stop flying blind: Find your form. Write your poem.

Poem forms hold the promise of power. Alas, many poets never tap their full potential because most books of forms are incomplete and riddled with internal and external inconsistencies. They are not comprehensive and leave you short. Meanwhile, the most extensive and trustworthy sources are largely unreadable, unusable as anything except an encyclopedia. They are not comprehensible and leave you baffled.

Master Poetry Forms is rare: a conversational introduction to the things every reasonably knowledgable poet or lover of poetry should understand - yes, even the freest of free verse poets - and yet a readable resource to the tools of an advanced poet.

Master Poetry Forms introduces the elements of poem structure in a way that is both (nearly) exhaustive yet (entirely) approachable. With a winsome tone and sense of humor, it engages multiple learning styles by use of a visual map. Its "book-within-a-book" approach flags material that is more esoteric and perhaps best suited for the more advanced poet and poetry reader, while encouraging the less experienced to skip those sections for the more essential material.

A great gift for the novice who wants a friendly introduction or the publishing poet who needs a (nearly) exhaustive reference. A lifelong companion for any serious writer's bookshelf. Master Poetry Forms is extremely adaptable by teachers for classroom instruction ranging from advanced secondary education in literature or composition (especially classical education) to college seminars and workshops for MA and MFA students. A great tool for libraries and librarians to give poets and the poetry-curious greater technical direction, understanding, and skill. Songwriters, musicians, and fans of any pattern language will also find a home here.

The product of a combined 33 years of work between an award-winning writer/scholar and a cutting-edge editor/coach, this is the definitive book on understanding and mastering poetry forms.

If you are a poet or lover of poetry, you need one friendly and reliable guide to the nuts and bolts of formal craft. Now is the time to unlock your potential:

Find your form. Write your poem.