So far I’m doing well with my summer reading list, aided and abetted by my recent decision to try library-going again. I finished the anthology of love stories I blogged about recently, the newest Stephen King (thanks to jury duty), and am still absorbing a great new book of poetry by Mary Jo Salter. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few ekphrastic poems in her work, and an interesting poem written to Goneril of King Lear, which I’ve been thinking about a lot lately since I saw it in London on my school trip. I think I’ll add rereading A Thousand Acres to my summer list!
Before my next workshop starts, I’ve been occupying my writing muscles with selected exercises from The Practice of Poetry, which is just as great as everyone I know said it was! If you are looking for some exercises to encourage you to try new forms, new structures, new subjects, or if you need help with writer’s block or revision, this is the book for you. I’m hoping my fledgling poetry group will be willing to try some of the group exercises once we start meeting regularly.
I agreed with you