Poetry, A Question

parker larkin

How many of you here, particularly those of you who write poetry, actually read poetry? (other than the stuff here obviously)

BEAT

I have read every single classic poet out there, the new ones not so much. I spent 5 years checking out every poetry book I could get my hands on from age of 11-16.
I then stopped because I began to write seriously and didnt want to be influenced by anyone's style and that can happen if you read too much of something you write then try to create your own.

I try to stay away from reading things I would normally write,
Like I only read biographys and history books for fun now since I write fiction books.
But i had quite a collection of poetry books before I locked them all away in storage

parker larkin

Interesting. Do you write profesionally and are you published?
ie can I read some of your stuff. I find reading the poetry as posted in a chat forum rather uninspiring, I think it's the medium.

I'm sure you all ready know this put it's an interesting articel all the same:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1360792,00.html


By the way, who specifically do you regard as 'classic'?

parker larkin

also, do you think you'll return to reading poetry? It's a pleasure I wouldn't willingly forego, not when the pleasure is often in the repeated reading and the ever renewing insights of favourite poets

BEAT

I have a couple in books in the works...When they are on shelves I will make an announcment

I shall ofcourse return to reading poetry, I just had to take a break to form my own style...I do miss reading the likes of Yeats, Emerson, Shelley, Wilde, Longfellow, Uncle Walt and so many more, they are like being home again when ever I sit down to read.

ven0m

The only poetry I ever read is 'The Rose That Grew From The Concrete' by Tupac Shakur, mainly because when I first got it & read it & some of the stuff in it, I couldn't believe the resemblance/themes to some of the stuff I wrote as a young teen...... other than that, I don't read poetry - but I am drawn to bands that write deep lyrics, cos I do write songs also...


::: ven0mous :::

parker larkin

I didn't know Walt Disney wrote poetry

simu

I read poetry quite a bit. I've been reading lots of 20th century Irish poetry this week for a book review I'm writing and I read older Irish poetry a lot too becuase that's what I'm doing research on at uni.

But I also like poetry in other languages - English, French etc. If you're looking for a good place to start with English poetry, I'd recommend The Norton Anthology of English poetry - it has poems in English from the time of Beowulf to the present, poet bios and informative footnotes.

shiv

I'd also highly recommend Pablo Naruda, who has a style and eloquence all his own, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Leonard Cohen.
There's also a cool Irish book of off-the wall poetry I picked up a few years ago, with odd poems. Very entertaining.

The danger in reading excellent poetry, however, is that it can either inspire you or make you wonder what the point of trying is, because it has been done so elegantly already.