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Poetry For Dummies

Brief Description
Explore the mystique, power, and beauty of poetry with this easy-to-read guide. Poetry For Dummies, 2nd Edition is an easy-to-follow and insightful guide to poetry designed to unlock your innate ability to understand and appreciate this powerful art form. The authors offer clear discussions of the... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Explore the mystique, power, and beauty of poetry with this easy-to-read guide.

Poetry For Dummies, 2nd Edition is an easy-to-follow and insightful guide to poetry designed to unlock your innate ability to understand and appreciate this powerful art form. The authors offer clear discussions of the fundamentals of poetry – including common poetic techniques, key styles of poetry, and effective interpretation strategies – and useful tools and exercises you can use today to improve the ways you write and read poetry.

You’ll explore the rich history of poetry and find out what genres and styles of this oldest form of literature speak directly to you. You’ll also discover how to understand the themes, metaphors, and meanings that animate all sorts of poetry and help you uncover new depths of substance in your favourite writings.

Inside:

  • Expert instruction on how to work with traditional forms of verse, write poetry, and understand how different genres and eras of poetry relate to each other
  • Hands-on exercises to help you write your first – or next – poem
  • A comprehensive discussion of common poetry terminology, complete with definitions of everything from iambs to trochees, tankas, and psalms

An eye-opening and exciting guide for anyone interested in poetry, Poetry For Dummies, 2nd Edition is also a must-read for aspiring poets, practising writers, people who already love poetry, and English teachers everywhere.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781394375554

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 29 April 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: For Dummies

Edition: 2nd edition

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 188.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 499g

Pages: 352

About the Author

John Timpane, PhD, is a freelance writer, poet, and former Books Editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer. His poetry has appeared in Sequoia, North of Oxford, Apiary, Painted Bride Quarterly, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and elsewhere. His latest chapbook is Buck in the Piano Room.

The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, founded in 1954 at the height of the San Francisco Renaissance, organizes and stores poetry readings by nationally promΒ­inent poets.

Marina Watts is involved in the poetry and literary community.

Also by John Timpane

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  • Poetry For Dummies
    Demystify and appreciate the pleasures of poetry Sometimes it seems like there are as many definitions of poetry as there are poems. Coleridge defined poetry as β€œthe best words in the best order.” St. Augustine called it β€œthe Devil’s wine.” For Shelley, poetry was β€œthe record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.” But no...
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Also by The Poetry Center

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  • Poetry For Dummies
    Demystify and appreciate the pleasures of poetry Sometimes it seems like there are as many definitions of poetry as there are poems. Coleridge defined poetry as β€œthe best words in the best order.” St. Augustine called it β€œthe Devil’s wine.” For Shelley, poetry was β€œthe record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.” But no...
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    Ships in 3-4 weeks

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