The Art of Poetry featuring James Morehead (Poet Laureate – Dublin, CA)

In this free replay of “The Art of Poetry” webcast, James Morehead (Poet Laureate – Dublin, CA), shares his approach to writing and editing poetry, using examples from his book “canvas: poems“.

Topics covered in the 40-minute webcast include:

• How start a poem (focusing on raw words / images / sounds, not the poetic form)
• The critical role of revising and editing a poem (including an example that shows how dramatically a poem can evolve from its raw, initial form)
• Techniques for reciting poetry (the distinction between how a poem is read vs. how a poem is heard), being intentional, marking up a poem to be recited, and managing stage fright
• The importance of your book’s cover (you can judge a book by its cover), and a behind-the-scenes look at how Kari Byron created the cover art for “canvas: poems” using black powder
• How the poem “tethered” was turned into an animated short film
• How poetry can inspire music (transforming “petals in haiku” into music)
• What a poem sounds like vs. what a poem looks like (reciting concrete poetry)
• Inspiration from art – writing ekphrastic poetry
• Effective titles for poems: poem titles as headlines
• Strategies to break through writer’s block

Additional resources for first-time authors are available in our series of articles on book publishing:

• Publishing your first book: getting started
• Professional writers write every day
• Storyboarding the manuscript
• Hire a copyeditor!
• Imprint, ISBNs, LCCN, and barcodes
• Getting a professional profile photo
• Copyrights and art usage license agreements
• Choosing a cover and layout designer
• Printing and distribution
• Publishing a book is a product management challenge
• Securing Blurbs, Advance Readers and PR

Do you have poetry looking for a home? Submit your poetry to be considered for a future episode of the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast (and publishing on our website).