Poetry: A Survivor’s Guide

Yakich (Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross), a poet and professor at Loyola University, delivers a reference guide that is fun and useful, if perhaps too basic for longtime readers and writers of poetry. Divided into two sections devoted respectively to reading and writing, this well-stocked resource should prove especially useful to educators and beginners, with exercises for defeating procrastination, definitions of literary devices, and tips for participating in workshops. In addition, it has a plethora of reading suggestions, ranging in period from the Romantic era, with William Blake, to contemporary language poetry, with Lyn Hejinian. Yakich’s short biographies of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are intelligent and funny, showcasing his ability to make an intimidating subject accessible. In order to avoid information overload, the book is best read in doses, per Yakich’s own suggestion. He has thoughtful comments on poetry’s place today, challenging ideas about its exceptionalism by cautioning that “poems only do what they do. Ask too much of them and you risk dying many times before actually having to do the deed.” Yakich’s irreverent style, conversational tone, and quirky illustrations make for a guide that will be both instructive and entertaining for anyone interested in learning more about reading and writing poetry. (Nov.)