I’ve had a GoodReads profile for a long
time, but this year I finally decided to use it, primarily to help me meet my
reading list goals.
I haven’t ever HAD a reading list, but as I know how important it is for writers to be readers, I want to practice what I preach this year. One of my goals sounds like this:
Read a new collection of poems monthly.
Since January has started, I have read a collection weekly. I am focused, especially, on poets who are near to me.
Recently I discovered Mary Kinzie through her book California Sorrow.
I found I loved her words, reading them felt like coming home to a dear friend.
Yesterday my big discovery was Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet and Nobel Prize Winner for Literature in 2011. English versions of his poems appear on the right side of the page and were added by Robin Robertson. I was unprepared for how luscious his words would be. Again, it was like finding another dear friend and sitting by a fireplace, talking about the world, nature, poetry, history and the air we breathe.
I have been going to the library every week to read poetry. I read other books, too – but I find the poetry books lend their power to each genre I write. I find the combination of the spare words along with the clear, compelling images is like taking a shot of word-love energy through my veins.
Why not try it?
Go to your local library and hit the poetry session. Choose a thin book of poetry bearing the name of a poet you have never read before. It is best to choose several, so you will be sure to meet a remarkable poet among poets.
I bet it will rev up both your craft and your desire to write and write well.
Let me know how it goes!
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© 2013 by Julie Jordan Scott
