A POETRY HANDBOOK A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry

The best poets get that way because they have given a great deal of thought to questions such as: “What is poetry?” “How does it get that way?” Mary Oliver was one of those best poets, and in this audio version of her classic work about how to write and read poetry she offers some answers, both detailed and expansive, to John Ciardi’s classic question: “How does a poem mean?” Kimberly Farr’s performance is wonderful, as witty and wise as the text. Her readings of the many poems (and pieces of poems) are clear and sensitive to the reasons Oliver has quoted them. The list of books about writing poetry that are truly useful is a short one, but this has earned its place on it, and this superb performance makes it even better. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2024 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2024]