Poet a Day Blog

Haiku.com is more than a site to read haiku. It’s a combination wiki, blog and shoutwall all in one. The unique poetry website calls itself a “human powered directory created by people throughout the world”, and claim that it provides patterns of relevancy that search engines and algorithms cannot achieve. HAIKU is also a place where you can discover over 1,000 directory entries about haiku, more than 2,500 entries on poetry and more, more, more.

Some of the best fun on Haiku though is where Haiku meets Web 2.0. You’ll find a page devoted to TWAIKU - Haiku on Twitter, which lists Twitter haiku feeds. You can discover Tweeps like ghost_of_basho, who writes things like …. well, like Basho.. a small sample:

on the midnight watch | dolphins glow in the bow wave | moonlight on taut sails

and

silent predawn sky | blue rise and trees breathe the sun | waiting for the storm

You can join HAIKU on Facebook, post Facebook and Google haiku on one of the Haiku walls or publish your own Personal Haiku page, as well as help contribute and edit any of the other directory pages on the site. It’s definitely worth checking out - but be sure you have an hour or so to waste. It’s really really easy to get lost in there.

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The Miss Rumphius Effect is a delightful blog written and maintained by a teacher and mom from Richmond, Virginia. Her reviews of kid’s literature, discussions of poetry, reading and literacy and her weekly “Monday Poetry Stretch” make this blog well worth reading regularly. In addition to writing poetry and writing about poetry, Miss Rumpious also shares insights on reading, teaching and sharing poetry with children - and maintains a list of links for anyone interested in children, what they like to read and what makes them tick.

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It occurs to me that in trying to be ‘fair’ and ethical by not promoting sites with which I am affiliated, I’m not giving props to one of the best online poetry sites it has ever been my pleasure to find. GotPoetry.com is one of the most comprehensive poetry resource sites on the net. The site is simply ginormous - but still manages to feel cozy and homelike, thanks to the awesome involvement level of various members and staff. My own favorite part of the site is the Workshop Forums, where you can post your works in progress for suggestions, encouragement and critique. The forums are lively and active, both in the poetry sections and in the off-topic sections. Free membership gets you access to the forums - paid members (and membership is a measly $25 a year) get to create their own forums on the subjects of their choosing and run them as they see fit.

In addition to the Workshops, there is a Finished Poems section where anyone can post their work (paid members bypass the poem approval process and get to see their poems posted immediately) to be commented upon and rated. The Finished Poems section includes pages where you can read the Most Popular Poems, the Top Rated Poems, check out the Highest Ranking Poets or Read a Random Poem. You can enter a Page Slam with your finished poems, or start one of your own.

In addition, there are regularly Featured Columns by poets, slammers, and other commenters, Poet Blogs and home pages for all members (there is FREE membership that entitles you to almost full access to the site), games to play, Encyclopedia, a Rhyming Dictionary, a Book Creator and a Chat Room that doesn’t see near enough use. Oh - and there is News, which includes updates from multiple poetry communities around the country, listings of local events and feature readings, a poetry map of poetry venues around the country - really, there’s a laundry list of valuable resources that never seems to end.

Site manager and owner John Powers is a daily presence on the site, and adding/refining features constantly to keep up with what the readers want. Long-time members frequent the forums and the finished poems sections to keep conversations moving and engaging. There’s a place for everyone at GotPoetry, from the hobbyist to the professional, and for every type of poetry. It is, in short, one of the most open and welcoming active sites on the Web, and I apologize for taking so long to spotlight it here.

Poetrydances.com showcases the work of various emerging writers. In the course of its reading program across selected poetry websites (or other sites which host user submitted poetry), Poetrydances.com links to poems it considers to be exceptional. Many of the writers behind these poems are able to enjoy ‘Favorite Writer’ status on the site. Poetry can also be submitted directly to the site along with links to great poems found by users themselves.

That’s directly from the latest press release put out by Poetry Dances.com founder and owner Tony French. Tony’s idea is a simple one - find poems that you like on the hundreds of poetry groups on the net, and link to them from one central site. In addition, there’s a monthly magazine of the ‘best’, links to submit your own poems for inclusion, a Favorite Writers list and links to submit poetry that you find and would like to see featured. Be prepared to wade through lots and lots of contextual ads, but there’s lots of poetry here - and maybe you’ll find one of yours.

It’s not a poetry blog, but it is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to be a better writer. Check out Criticism: Can You Handle It or Are You a Slave to Your Ego? for some great advice on how to deal with and handle criticism of your work. Then dig a little deeper and find out how to use a semi-colon properly and Five Key Practices for Poetic Growth. Written by Melissa Donovan, Writing Forward looks to be shaping up into an excellent resource for any writer.

Looking for a poetry related event anywhere in the Pioneer Valley of New England? Poetry News, maintained by Lori Desrosiers of Westfiled, MA is one of the most important and helpful resources you’ll find. Lori has been maintaining the newsletter for Poetry News for several years now. Each week, she includes more poetry-related happenings than most people hear about in a lifetime of attending poetry. While the actual scope of her newsletter is the Springfield/Worcester/Hartford area, she regularly includes events that take place in Boston, on Cape Cod, in Providence and in eastern New York State. Her events listings include all the pertinent information you need to plan an entire week of poetry, or just a night out at a reading. From library readings of poetry for children, to poetry slams and hip hop battles, if it’s happening in Central or Western Mass, it will be in Lori’s Poetry News.

In addition to publishing at Poetry News, Lori also posts the weekly Poetry News newsletter to multiple mailing lists. Spreading the word about poetry - it’s what it’s all about.

World Class Poetry Blog is maintained and written by Allan Taylor, a Pennsylvania poet who has been writing poetry for over twenty years. His approach to poetry - and to poetry blogs - is practical and plain spoken. Unlike many other poet’s blogs, Taylor’s World Class Poetry Blog doesn’t feature his poetry often - he does often feature the poetry of others, and musings about the world of poetry as well as tidbits of news about poetry and practical advice about how to get published, where to get published and why and how you should revise your poetry.In an entry about poetry contests, Taylor quotes poet and Writer’s Digest poetry columnist Robert Lee Brewer on poetry -and adds that it fits his own feelings about poetry. He says,

All the while, I’ve thought poets and those who love poetry should embrace the whole durned thing–from the teenage boy writing a poem for his unrequited love to the post-grad scholar constructing an anagrammatic series of sestinas that incorporate mythological interpretations of the meaning of pop culture references in the 1980s (hey, whatever floats yer boat).

Taylor’s feelings about poetry show in his blog. He’s as likely to post a critique on the Petrarchan sonnet form as videos of slam poetry off youtube. Throw in a hefty helping of newsworthy stories about awards being handed out, markets that publish poetry and whatever happens to strike his mind that has to do with poetry. He’s easy to read without being dumbed down - accessible writing about poetry that’s actually worth reading. What a concept.

In a review of Lewis Turco’s latest compilation of poetry, Daniea Gioseffi writes

“Is there anyone in American poetry quite like Lewis Turco — a prolific and highly versatile writer in all genres, a renowned teacher, translator, and a consummately skilled craftsman who also brought us The Book of Forms,

Years ago, I decided to work my way through Turco’s Book of Forms one form at a time - an exercise doomed to failure, but I did find myself enjoying reading this “reference book” thoroughly. Turco, writing as Wesli Court, penned one of my favorite poems of all time and inspired a love of the sestina. His criticism and discussion of poetry as an art and as a form can be heavy reading, but are always enlightening. So I was delighted to stumble across his blog. It’s updated frequently and always interesting reading. He also makes his posts very accessible by including a “listen now” button powered by Odiogo.com. Definitely worthwhile reading, especially if you enjoy reading poetry discussion and theory.

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