In this lovely book, poet Kate Clanchy includes a slew of interesting contemporary poems, then suggests a range of ways that aspiring poets could emulate their structures to create their own poems. She also includes examples of beautiful poems written by teenagers who have done just that. She has spent a lot of time working in schools with young people and clearly has a sense of the guidance that will help them and the concerns that they might have.

It’s worth buying for the poems alone – Clanchy obviously reads widely and she has selected amazing poems from poets you’ve (mostly) probably never heard of. That makes it absolutely worth its weight in Toblerone if you’re an English teacher perpetually looking for good poems for class or for in-school exam papers. Or if you just enjoy contemporary poetry: special mention to ‘My Blue Hen’ by Ann Gray, p.134.

But it’s also wonderful for busy teachers (aka all teachers), with itsready made ‘reading to write’ style activities: read this poem; consider the writer’s form & features; now see if you can emulate some of these, but in your own way.

Clanchy writes simply and with sensitivity and humour. There’s nothing pretentious or intimidating about this book, and it’s beautifully designed, with lots of lovely white space on the page.

Highly recommend for budding poets and their teachers 🙂

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Title: How to Grow Your Own Poem

Author: Kate Clanchy

Cover: Cover illustration and typography by Heather Haynes

Publisher: Picador, 2020

Genre: writing advice, non-fiction

Representation: includes poems by poets and students from a range of cultural backgrounds

Suitability: years 7-12, if avoiding more contentious poems

Fyi: some poems include swear words, some poems include references to death, heartbreak and other poetic themes

NSW syllabus: poetry 7-10; year 11 (Standard & Advanced) Reading to Write; year 12 (Standard & Advanced) Module C: The Craft of Writing

Other writing guides: On Writing by Stephen King

Image: How to Grow Your Own Poem by Kate Clanchy, Picador 2020. All rights reserved. Cover illustration and typography by Heather Haynes. Image used on this blog under the “Fair dealing for criticism or review” provision of the Commonwealth Copyright Act, 1968. Surrounding design made by me using Canva.