Poetry

A companionable and enriching book for readers and writers of poetry alike. Diverse in scope and fresh in its perspective, Poetry: A Survivor's Guide is an essential resource.

????????Isabel Galleymore, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Birmingham, UK

Mark Yakich's Poetry: A Survivor's Guide is more than a guide, it's a heart's hornbook for all of us who occasionally look at a poem and see nothing but alphabet soup. Ranging freely from topics like "Culture Jamming" to "Ineffability" to "Procrastination," Yakich brings us closer to the mysteries of art in entries of dazzling intimacy and intelligence. You will find cartoons here, and logos, and recipes, and illusions-and then, when you put down Poetry: A Survivor's Guide and pick up a poem to read, you'll find all those things there, too. If you're a poet, this book will remind you of the reasons why you fell in love with the art in the first place. If you're a reader falling in love with the art in the first place, it might just make you a poet.

??????Srikanth Reddy, Professor of English, University of Chicago, USA, and author of Underworld Lit

Poetry: A Survivor's Guide is a brilliantly provocative, witty and illuminating book about poetry in its many guises. It is both an homage to poetry and a reveille for its reanimation. In a series of superb vignettes - everything from 'Reader's Block' to 'Culture Jamming' and 'Procrastination' - Mark Yakich offers sage advice and in doing so, bursts the urban myths about poetry wide open. This book will turn on its head everything you have ever thought about poetry, it will empower and entertain you and, most importantly, it will change the way you think about poetry.

????Cassandra Atherton, Professor of Literary Studies and Professional & Creative Writing, Deakin University, Australia

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.

??Publishers Weekly [on the first edition]