For Curious Readers and New Poets
By Poetry Pharmacy
For Curious Readers and New Poets
By Poetry Pharmacy
A. K. Davidson’s Recommendations for Curious Readers and New Poets
A. K. Davidson, author of Poetry for Life and Other Chronic Conditions, came to poetry writing via a career in book publishing. She gives us her go-to poetry books, guides and inspirations.
Poetry for Life and Other Chronic Conditions: Short Poems from Long Covid
A. K. Davidson
£9.99 £9.49
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms
£14.99
I was introduced to this book in the first poetry-writing workshop I ever attended and I took to it instantly. If you find it fun to play around writing in poetic form, here are the options clearly laid out, with lots of example too.
The Process of Poetry
Rosanna McGlone
£10.99 £10.44McGlone interviews fifteen leading contemporary poets about their process, sharing an early draft of one of their poems together with the finished version. It’s fascinating. Some poems took fifty drafts, some four, one ‘almost wrote itself’. As poet Hannah Lowe says, ‘Whenever you have the thought “I can get away with this”, in a poem, you can’t.’
Poems as Friends: The Poetry Exchange 10th Anniversary Anthology
Michael Shaeffer and Fiona Bennett
£14.99 £14.24This lovely book is a wonderful way to access new poetry. Each poem is introduced by a noteworthy fan who explains why and how it has ‘been a friend’ to them. This really adds depth to the poem when you read it, as well as being an interesting insight into the contributors’ lives.
Serious Concerns
Wendy Cope
£10.99 £10.44I remember the relief of discovering Wendy Cope – poetry you can read for fun – and I still find her poems a breath of fresh air. Insightful, witty and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, they also stand up to close inspection. I particularly relish the title poem of this book.
I Will Crash: SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
Rebecca Watson
£9.99 £9.49This novel isn’t poetry, but is it prose? Whatever it is, it’s a brilliant read. As with her first book, little scratch, Watson uses (type)setting as well as words to tell a story. That sounds like it could be hard work, but it isn’t; it just adds another dimension. She’s so sparing with her words, to great effect, that it makes you wonder why other writers bother using so many unnecessary ones.
The Lady's Handbook For Her Mysterious Illness
Sarah Ramey
£18.99 £18.04If ever I had any doubts about whether I would be brave enough to publish Poetry for Life and Other Chronic Conditions, devouring inspirational Sarah Ramey’s memoir blew them away. The way she writes about her extraordinary experiences with chronic illness is incredible: her story is as page-turning as a thriller, jaw-dropping and so important. Read.