I just recently wrote about our approach to poetry study and memorization in our homeschool. But I use similar tactics as a part of my own poetry practice. Wide exposure and deep dives.

Copywork slows reading way down. While you might be tempted to flip through a collection and read with scattered attention, writing by hand creates the conditions for paying attention. Formal matters, like line breaks and punctuation, are foregrounded.

This month I began a new copywork project. I am copying by hand all of Ursula K. LeGuin’s most recent book of poems called So Far So Good.

Each morning I begin this work while the sky is dark, the house is quiet, and the coffee is hot. It’s an easy way to approach the page and begin to turn my attention to writing. Her poems are fine companions and teachers.

If you’d like to hear more about how copywork might inform your own process, Ann Kroeker produced an excellent podcast on the topic.

To see all the posts in the series Listening to My Life :: Homeschooling an MFA in Poetry, click here.

An essential part of my reading that doesn’t show up on the list of fiction and non-fiction is the poetry that I read everyday. This practice comes from my teacher, Holly Wren Spaulding, who uses other people’s poems as a way to prime the pump of her own writing. Reading poems makes writing poems more fluid. Makes sense!

Holly is teaching a free poetry writing workshop on November 20th called All of It. I’m blocking off that hour as a respite from the pull of a busy season and would love for you to join me!

Poems in Your Inbox

An easy way to add poems into your day is to have them delivered each morning. I’ve subscribed to Tweetspeak, Writer’s Almanac, and just now I’m enjoying the poems from Paris Review. Even though it makes me want a subscription to the print magazine nearly every day!

One Poem Each Week

This practice comes from Robert Pinsky. He suggests picking a poem and reading it every day for a week. I keep a running list of poems that cross my path in my MFA Notebook, and pick one each week. I ‘m always surprised at the richness that rises to the surface as I read throughout the week. In a year I’ve collected a personal anthology of poems that I know intimately.

Reading Deeply from One Poet

This summer at Cloud and Leaf Bookstore, I picked up the last collection of poems by Ursula K LeGuin. Oh they are beauties! Each morning I copy out by hand one of her poems. But I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow!

To see all the posts in the series Listening to My Life :: Homeschooling an MFA in Poetry, click here.