Skip to Main Content

English: Poetry

This is your guide to research and resources for doing work related to the English language and literature.

Poem of the Day

Writing Poetry

Button Poetry - spoken word - "Rigged Game"
How To (and How Not To) Write Poetry
The following are selections from columns originally published in the Polish newspaper Literary Life. In these columns, famed poet Wislawa Szymborska answered letters from ordinary people who wanted to write poetry.
Why Write Poetry?
NaPoWriMo
NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April.
William Shakespeake Sonnet Generator

Articles and Links about Poetry

Why Afghan Women Risk Death to Write Poetry
Spoken word Young Jakartans embrace a new poetry
Epic Celebration of Poetry Day
Be sure and check out the Lego displays created during Virgilpalooza.
Jay-Z Explains Why Rap Should Be Considered Poetry
Poetry Soup
Poets.org - poetry, poems, bios, and more
Poetry Foundation
Poetry Documentaries - short videos on poets and poetry
Page Meets Stage | Where the Pulitzer Prize meets the Poetry Slam
more...less...
Hosted by Taylor Mali
Romantic Poetry in English Literature Videos - English Literature Tutorials & Lectures

Why we read and write poetry - clip from Dead Poets Society

"To my favorite 17-year-old girl"

Teaching Poetry

Lee B. Hopkins Poetry Award Teaching Toolbox

Just a few of the Books on Poetry and Poets in the Nallo Center

The Cuckoo's Haiku by Michael J. Rosen; Stan Fellows (Illustrator)
Call Number: MS 811 ROS
ISBN: 9780763630492
Publication Date: 2009-03-10
Imagination's Other Place by Helen Plotz (Editor); Clare Leighton (Illustrator)
Call Number: MS 808.81 P
ISBN: 0690434138
Publication Date: 1955-01-01
Poems of Science and Mathematics
Roots and Blues by Arnold Adoff; R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)
Call Number: MS 811 ADO
ISBN: 9780547235547
Publication Date: 2011-01-03
This Same Sky by Naomi Shihab Nye (Selected by)
Call Number: MS 808.81 THI
ISBN: 0027684407
Publication Date: 1992-10-31
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes; Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)
Call Number: MS 811 HUG
ISBN: 9780679844211
Publication Date: 2007-11-13
Ordinary Things by Ralph Fletcher; Walter Lyon Krudop (Illustrator)
Call Number: MS 811 FLE
ISBN: 0689810350
Publication Date: 1997-04-01
Falling Up by Shel Silverstein (Illustrator)
Call Number: MS 811 SIL
ISBN: 0060248025
Publication Date: 2006-01-24
Poetry; The Craft of Writing Poetry by Mark Mussari
Call Number: MS 808.1 MUS
ISBN: 9781608705009
Publication Date: 2011-09-01
includes a brief history of poetry,types of poetry, techniques, subject ideas, practice ideas
The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle; Sean Qualls (Illustrator)
Call Number: MS 861 ENG
ISBN: 0805077065
Publication Date: 2006-04-04
Nevermore by Karen Lange
Call Number: MS 818 LAN
ISBN: 9781426303982
Publication Date: 2009-02-24
Borrowed Names by Jeannine Atkins
Call Number: MS 811 ATK
ISBN: 0805089349
Publication Date: 2010-03-16
Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
Call Number: MS F CRE
ISBN: 9780061430923
Publication Date: 2008-09-23

Just a few of the Books on Poetry and Poets in Carnegie Library

The Columbia Anthology of American Poetry by Jay Parini (Editor)
Call Number: 811.008 COL
ISBN: 0231081227
Publication Date: 1995-06-01
Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers by J. Patrick Lewis; Jane Yolen (Notes by); Marc Chagall (Illustrator)
Call Number: 811 LEW
ISBN: 9781568462110
Publication Date: 2011-08-24
Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle
Call Number: 811 ENG
ISBN: 9780805092400
Publication Date: 2011-03-15
West Wind by Mary Oliver
Call Number: 811 OLI
ISBN: 0395850827
Publication Date: 1997-05-01
Here in Harlem by Walter Dean Myers
Call Number: 811 MYE
ISBN: 9780823418534
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
The Best of It by Kay Ryan
Call Number: 811 RYA
ISBN: 9780802119148
Publication Date: 2010-03-23
Wherever Home Begins by Paul B. Janeczko (Selected by)
Call Number: 811 WHE
ISBN: 0531087816
Publication Date: 1996-10-01
Selected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes
Call Number: 811 HUG
ISBN: 067972818X
Publication Date: 1990-09-12
How to Write a Poem by Margaret Ryan
Call Number: 808.1 RYA
ISBN: 0531112527
Publication Date: 1996-09-01
Poetry and Experience by Archibald Macleish
Call Number: 801 m
ISBN: 0395079551
Publication Date: 1972-08-01
Human Values in the Poetry of Robert Frost by George W. Nitchie
Call Number: 811.52 N
ISBN: 1258139472
Publication Date: 2011-10-01
You Don't Even Know Me by Sharon G. Flake
Call Number: F FLA
ISBN: 9781423100140
Publication Date: 2010-02-16
Gwendolyn Brooks by Christine M. Hill
Call Number: 928.1 BRO
ISBN: 9780766022928
Publication Date: 2005-08-01
Oxford Companion to 20th-Century Poetry by Ian Hamilton (Editor)
ISBN: 9780192800428
Publication Date: 1996-05-23
From the catalog: This comprehensive guide to modern poetry in English covers 1,500 poets, including poets from Britain, America, New Zealand, Trinidad, and Zimbabwe. Many of the contributors are themselves celebrated poets, including Tom Paulin and Seamus Heaney.