Friday 20 February 2015

Marjorie Perloff's Five Rules For Writing Bad Poetry


In a recent podcast, Marjorie Perloff lays down the law:
1. Don't assume free-verse is just about line-breaks.
2. Don't take yourself so seriously.
3. Don't underestimate the importance of a sense of humour.
4. Don't play the victim card.
5. Don't forget all poems are written with an eye and ear to earlier poetry.

2 comments:

David Godkin said...

Number 6: Don't pay attention to even the very best critics on podcast, radio or TV interviews and the like: read their work instead. This is just dreadful...

Stephen Morrissey said...

I agree with David Godkin's comment. Better to listen to what poets have to say on this topic...