A review of “A Poetry Handbook” in 100 words by Catherine Stover
A recent program about Mary Oliver on PBS reminded me of why I love her Poetry Handbook so much. It set a new standard for textbooks when it was published in 1994. It’s less like a lecture and more like having a conversation with someone who smiles. I can feel her nudge me with her foot under the table when she recommends that we prioritize reading widely and deeply. “Poetry is a river,” she tells us, “many voices travel in it; poem after poem moves along in the exciting crests and falls of the river’s waves.” Why shouldn’t we jump in?
Work cited:
Oliver, Mary. A Poetry Handbook: a Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994, p. 121.