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!
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)
© 2013 by Julie Jordan Scott