Web Sites

Poetry and Literature Center of the Library of Congress
Links to the Favorite Poem Project initiated by Robert Pinsky and Billy Collins in "Poetry 180, A Poem a Day for High School Students" plus other links.

madpoetry.org
A public-service Web site listing poetry and related events for Madison, Wisconsin and vicinity, featuring local poetic news, occasions and actual poems. Lots of good links for poets.

Woodland Pattern
Milwaukee's premier venue for local and national poets.

Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets
This is THE site for Wisconsin poets. They publish the Wisconsin Poets Calendar, sponsor readings and workshops around the state, have information on contests, prizes, publishing opportunities in Wisconsin and elsewhere. They provide an excellent networking venue for Wisconsin poets.

Poets and Writers
This is the pre-eminent magazine for poets. Listed are major contests and prizes, reputable places to which poems may be submitted, information on writer's workshops worldwide and interviews with nationally known poets.

Books

Migration: New and Selected Poems by W.S. Merwin.
“Migration is the distillation of a profound body of work. Drawing the best poems from his acclaimed 17 books, and including a selection of new poems, Migration is the definitive Merwin volume. It embodies his evolving poetic style, commitment to bearing witness, and artistic and political nerve. There is nothing quite like this in American poetry.” -- Book jacket

The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets by Ted Kooser.
“Written by a practicing poet who has published ten books of poetry over forty years and who is currently serving as the U.S. Poet Laureate, this handbook is one of the best.” -- ForeWord Magazine Reviews

School of the Arts: Poems by Mark Doty.
“ Although this collection may be the sparsest yet in terms of word use, the poems are ever more sophisticated in their structure. Doty's writing continues to evolve. Rather than sticking with the voice that made him successful, he pushes the boundaries of thought and form, always searching and considering and never wavering in his attempt to not only understand the world but determine the best way to 'be' in it.” -- Booklist Reviews.

Suzy Zeus Gets Organized by Maggie Robbins.
"… irresistible, saucy, singsong novella-in-verse, a bravura performance with the cigarette-and-cocktail purr of Kim Addonizio and the irony and outrageousness of Patti Smith. Robbins uses a simple and mesmerizing rhythm, playful rhymes, gum-snapping humor, and glamorous eroticism to hypnotize the reader as she shifts stealthily from classic men-are-jerks routines to a deep and resonant inquiry into neurosis, depression, and spiritual angst." -- Booklist review

Landing Light by Don Paterson
“ He knows how to write poems in which every line is awake, every one composed with care and a billiard-player’s feel for the way language can spin us subtly this way and that.” -- Billy Collins

Ariel: The Restored Edition by Sylvia Plath.
“ In her insightful foreword to this volume, Frieda Hughes, Sylvia Plath's daughter, explains the reasons for the differences between the previously published edition of "Ariel" as edited by her father, Ted Hughes, and her mother's original version published here. With this publication, Sylvia Plath's legacy and vision will be re-evaluated in the light of her original working draft.” -- Book jacket

In the Dark by Ruth Stone.
Stone appeals to the mind's eye and the physical ear, each word tested for ripeness like fruit, each a perfectly held note. Wry animal parables, spare and intense dramas, gorgeous nature lyrics, and bracing metaphysical musings constitute a clarion collection by a National Book Award-winning, and profoundly rewarding, poet. -- Booklist Reviews.

Backsass: Poems by Fred Chappell.
Chappell is almost uniquely funny (something not seen often in poetry), which does not mean inane or superficial. He is a trickster bard, the one who cleverly makes us look at ourselves and laugh--something we could use more of these days. -- Booklist Reviews.

Songs of Life and Hope/ Cantos de Vida y Esperanza by Ruben Dario.
“ Not enough praise can be heaped on this impressive…bilingual edition…Lovers of good literature are indebted to the editors and translators...for making available a reliable Spanish text of the key work of Hispanic literary modernism's most celebrated poet, and along with it a faithful, felicitous, sonorous translation that rings with the vision and rhythms of the originals.” – Choice Review

Words Brushed by Music: Twenty-five Years of the Johns Hopkins Poetry Series
edited by John T. Irwin ; with a foreword by Anthony Hecht.
"Words Brushed by Music" gathers the best poems of the past twenty-five years, works that exhibit extraordinary wit, elegance, wisdom born of experience, and mastery of language. In this anniversary volume, award-winning poet and critic Anthony Hecht also reflects on the state of American poetry today. -- Book jacket

An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art edited by Annie Finch and Kathrine Varnes.
At once handbook, reader, and guide to the literary tastes and wisdom of poets …The editors invited over fifty contemporary poets to select a poetic meter, stanza, or form, describe it, recount its history, and provide favorite examples. The essays represent a remarkably diverse range of literary styles and approaches, and show how the forms of contemporary English-language poetry derive from a wealth of different traditions. -- Book jacket.