The Art of Voice – Poetic Principles and Practice - Hardcover

Hoagland, Tony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1324002689 ISBN 13: 9781324002680

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019

Synopsis

In this accessible and distilled craft guide, acclaimed poet Tony Hoagland approaches poetry through the frame of poetic voice, that mysterious connective element that binds the speaker and reader together. A poem strong in the dimension of voice is an animate thing of shifting balances, tones, and temperatures, by turns confiding, vulgar, bossy, or cunning―but above all, alive.

The twelve short chapters of The Art of Voice explore ways to create a distinctive poetic voice, including vernacular, authoritative statement, material imagination, speech register, tone-shifting, and using secondary voices as an enriching source of texture in the poem. A comprehensive appendix contains thirty stimulating models and exercises that will help poets cultivate their craft. Mining his personal experience as a poet and analyzing a wide range of examples from Catullus to Marie Howe, Hoagland provides a lively introduction to contemporary poetry and an invaluable guide for any practicing writer.

About this title

About the Author

Tony Hoagland (1953―2018) was the award-winning author of seven poetry collections, including the National Book Critics Circle Finalist What Narcissism Means to Me and Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God, and two essay collections. He taught at the University of Houston and conducted a community workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lived.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1324002689
• ISBN 13: 9781324002680
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 176