Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words
by Susan G. Wooldridge
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Book Summary Information
Author: Susan G. WooldridgeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-04-01
ISBN: 0609800981
Number of pages: 210
Publisher: Broadway
Book Reviews of Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words
Book Review: anyone who wants to write poetry should read this exuberant, playful and liberating book
Summary: 5 Stars
"Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life With Words" is a fitting title for Susan Wooldridge's delightful, liberating book on the writing of poems and the teaching of writing poetry. More than a poet, Susan Wooldridge is an amazing poetry teacher. Her book is full of fun and, for me, fruitful poetry exercises. Above all else, her book cultivates a sense of play in the writing of poems.
In order to reach a "poem-drenched state of mind," Wooldridge advocates tapping into one's unconscious mind. To this end, Wooldridge recommends keeping a notebook by your bed to jot down details from your dreams before you forget them. I actually tried this, but my groggy morning-self kept forgetting to write about my dreams before they evaporated. What did work well for me, however was her suggestion of writing interesting words down on bits of paper, then picking handfuls of words out of a "wordpool" to sort into poems. Sometimes, the desire to be a good poet can be stifling. Wooldridge's free-spirited approach to poetry gave me license to write with a playful heart.
Wooldridge's teaching philosophy is summarized quite well in her introduction: "in a safe, free setting anyone of any age can gather words, play with language and write poems." (xii) I love her non-elitist attitude. It is all too common for published poets and poetry critics to complain about the excessive amount of "talentless" amateur poets. I believe that anyone interested in writing poems should be encouraged to do so . . . and be given a copy of "Poemcrazy".
Summary of Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words
Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge is a poet and teacher who conducts workshops privately, as well as in the California Poets in the Schools program. Her exuberant, critically acclaimed teaching guide takes instructors, writers, and general readers into the very heart and intensity of life and the craft of expressing what one feels therefrom through the written word.Poemcrazy is the poetic analog to Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird or Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, two classic works on how to forget that you "can't write" and just start the pen moving. Susan Wooldridge is a swimming instructor in the wide ocean of language, encouraging us to move ever farther from the shore, dive deep, and dance on the waves.
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