Poem, Revised: 54 Poems, Revisions, Discussions | 
 enlarge | Creators: Robert Hartwell Fiske, Laura Cherry
Publisher: Marion Street Press, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $12.25
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 350199
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 1933338253
Dewey Decimal Number: 809
EAN: 9781933338255
ASIN: 1933338253
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
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Product Description
The creative world of the writer is uncovered in this captivating exploration of the techniques of poetry revision. An in-depth look at the writing processes of 54 poems, each by a different modern author, is provided, complete with early drafts, subsequent revised versions, and short essays from the poets themselves revealing how and why they made specific changes, as well as their editing secrets. Poetry lovers will enjoy browsing through their favorite works and authors, and budding writers will learn the skills needed to grow a first draft into a polished final piece.
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| Customer Reviews:
Horn of Plenty August 6, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Robert Hartwell Fiske and Laura Cherry have assembled a bonanza of first person accounts from contemporary poets discussing how they revise. It is a generous and often very wise book, which will repay many readings. I predict that it will become one of those books often used in poetry workshops and in similar mentor-student interactions, especially for those faced with the eternal dilemma of students who believe their work has come down to them, like Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments, directly from divine inspiration.
There are no superstar poets here, just hardworking journeymen and women talking about the problem that trips us all up at one time or another, how to get yourself out of the habit of loving your own words too much.
There is not a huge range of poetry either, but we've all written poems about nature, landscapes, art, personal problems, politics, and of course, about the act of writing poetry itself, especially in this modern world which has devalued poetry to the extent that it is generally discounted as a profession.
Some first drafts are presented with their pants down, as it were, all the original faults and pretensions left in--a clever designer has been able to include some of these in facsimile, so you see the regretful crossouts, the angry underscorings, the words added in desperate hope of recovery. Other writers give the original workshop assignments, prompts, or exercises that occasioned their pieces, and tell how they either obeyed the instructions or went out on their own, like birds on a limb. No two accounts are identical, though many share the same general linear narrative--I wrote something that didn't work, I fixed it, it's fine now. Editors Hartwell Fiske and Cherry point out humorously, that it's all in the eye of the beholder and some of us will prefer the penultimate draft to the one that the poet finally stopped working up. Or even the first draft, which is where I came in.
Writers were asked to perform a difficult act of exposure, which most carry off with utter grace. Now and then we get a poet with what seems like a little too much self-confidence, Martin Wallis, for example, who "humbly" points out the way his revisions add "exact observation," "precise language," "startling metaphor," etc., yes, but he has forgotten the meaning of "humbly." But I'm getting down on him unfairly, for all the writers were charged with showing how much revision improves their writing. He just took it to extremes. This is a thick book, practically a bible of advice, and should be helpful to every sort of poet, from beginner to Nobel Prize winner--anyone who's not too proud to "eat their words."
the recipe of poems August 6, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I think this cover is a great indicator of the clever premise behind "Poem, Revised"
If you are at all interested in the construction of a poem, you will love this book. it's like eating a wonderful pie and then getting the recipe for it!
Beverly Perkins
Poem, Revised: 54 Poems, Revisions, Discussions
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