Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically

Name: Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically
Price: 22.99 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780393881981

by Paisley Rekdal

$22.99

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What makes reading a poem unlike reading anything else? In Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens, acclaimed poet and teacher Paisley Rekdal demonstrates how to observe the building blocks of a poem--including its diction, form, imagery, and rhythm--and construct an interpretation of its meaning. Using guided close readings and nearly 40 creative and critical "experiments," this book shows how a poem takes shape through the intersection of all its lyric elements. Drawing on the work of poets from William Shakespeare to Jericho Brown, Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens reveals how to read and write critically, and how to appreciate--and achieve--the exhilarating craft of poetry.

Publisher:: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN:: 9780393881981
Binding:: Paperback
Pages:: 384
Authors:: Paisley Rekdal
Published Date:: 2024-10-22
Language:: English

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Recommended by a poet...

Is there a book on the craft of writing that you recommend to poets?

I really love Paisley Rekdal’s Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically—just everything she writes is written well, but she’s also so engaging and understandable, which is important for craft.

— Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Demystifying the Manuscript: Essays and Interviews on Creating a Book of Poems

Read more from Kelli Russell Agodon on our blog

All Poetry Documentary/Witness Poetics Paisley Rekdal Poetry Craft and Writing

About Paisley Rekdal

A poet of Chinese American and Norwegian heritage born in Seattle, Washington, Paisley Rekdal earned a BA from the University of Washington, an MA from the University of Toronto Centre for Medieval Studies, and an MFA from the University of Michigan. Her collection Animal Eye (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012) won the 2013 UNT Rilke Prize, and West: A Translation (Copper Canyon Press, 2023) won the 2024 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. She also wrote Nightingale (Copper Canyon Press, 2019). Rekdal served as Poet Laureate of Utah from 2017 to 2022 and received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship in 2019. She has held a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Fellowship, and she is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah.

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