Should Poets Read Other Poets? by Lisa Wence Connors

You know, it’s sad. I often attend workshops, classes, and other events where I encounter poets who tell me that they don’t read the work of other poets. They have a lot of reasons.

For one thing, they fear that their work will be unduly influenced by other poets, that their thinking might be tainted by the style or content of another poet, or that they might inadvertently plagiarize someone else’s work. They don’t want to give up precious time they could use for their own writing. And, unfortunately, some don’t really enjoy any poetry other than their own. I say, “Poppycock!” Reading the work of other poets is one of the most important things we can do.

We definitely want to be influenced!

Reading the work of other poets makes us better poets.

Nothing makes me more excited to write poetry than reading or hearing a poem that resonates. I find all sorts of unexpected ideas pouring into my head, especially after a great reading or a cup of tea and a well-thumbed chapbook. Remember that great creative input makes for great creative output. We can be inspired by the thoughts, feelings, and knowledge of other poets without copying their work.

In the long run, not reading tends to inhibit your style. We end up huddled together in our poetry bubbles, where we get comfortable with our friends who all write poetry of a similar style and content, which then becomes stale. Exposing ourselves to new poets can lift us out of ourselves and away from our bubbles and reveal to us the broader world.

If we read unfamiliar poets, it makes us less likely to imitate another poet, because we’re more aware of what has already been done. Our poetry is part of a long and ongoing discussion that crosses time periods and time zones. To participate meaningfully, we need to know what has already been said, especially when we’re writing about strong, universal, human emotions that people have felt driven to describe again and again over the centuries. The pain of our individual heartbreak feels unique to us, but it’s not new until we can find a fresh way to describe it.

As poets, we need to avoid those tired cliches.

We always want that fresh metaphor, something no one has ever said before. Reading others’ work, especially from our contemporaries, is a great way to know what cool metaphors are already overused. Only so many poems can mention tangled sheets in reference to the complicated emotions experienced during a relationship. Or shattered mirrors in reference to a messy breakup.

By reading poetry journals we also become attuned to what is trendy right now in poetry, so we can avoid falling into that trap and dating our work. Remember when every other poem was full of ampersands? Or double slashes? That was so 2020. And using the word cerulean? Please, it’s just so overdone.

Expanding our repertoire puts more tools in our poetry toolbox – new techniques, imagery, use of space, and ways of organizing ideas on the page that can then be authentically incorporated into our own writing.

Perhaps that poem you’ve been writing that just isn’t working would benefit from a different form or a change in tone or Point of View? Maybe it should be a sonnet? Something you’ve never considered? Look at something new and exciting to refresh your perspective. Is that sexy longer line sparking your imagination? How about those clever line breaks? Or maybe you’ve suddenly recognized the gut punch a good volte brings to a poem. You might find a line to springboard off of or use as an epigraph. You might also feel a need to respond to a poem, creating a whole new work by continuing that discussion.

And what about meter? A lot of us are intimidated by meter and the more complex forms. Meter is often difficult, but reading other poets’ work out loud (really loud in your car, where no one can hear you) might help tune your ear to meter. You can also often find clips of poets reading their own work on the internet – it’s so helpful to hear a poem how the poet intended for it to be heard, in addition to our own interpretation.

Where to begin?

You should read widely and voraciously.

Try to find poetry that is very different from your own in style, tone, and content. A few of my personal favorite go-to poets are Tracy K Smith, Kay Ryan, Edna St Vincent Millay, Ted Kooser, and Billy Collins. But I also love the rambling epic poems of Kenneth Rexroth, the crazy imagery of Alice Notley, and the out-of-this-world poems of Craig Raine – even a little Charles Bernstein, if I feel like being pleased and confused all at once.

Anthologies and literary journals will expose you to a bunch of poets quickly. Poetry handbooks are a perfect introduction to poetry reading because the authors expose you to excellent examples and explain the poetry techniques and literary devices used.

I especially like “A Discovery of Poetry” by Frances Mayes, “A Little Book on Form” by Robert Hass, and “The Making of a Poem” by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland. Several online services can send you a poem a day right into your inbox, like Rattle – you might find some familiar Western Slope poets in there once in a while.

Something that many new poets don’t consider is supporting our fellow poets. We all want our work to be read.

We want our voices to be heard.

Even the poets who keep their poetry hidden away secretly want to be read, a la Emily Dickenson. No one believes you when you say, “Destroy my poetry when I die!”  Therefore, there must be an audience.

Poetry journals, anthologies, small press publications, and independent bookstores are the vehicles we poets use to get our work out, but without our support they can’t afford to operate. We are part of this widely diverse creative community and have a responsibility to our fellow poets to buy their chapbooks or journals. Lithic Bookstore in Fruita has an amazing selection of local and other poets. Seriously, if you haven’t been out there, check them out.

If cost is an issue, free sources can be found at the library or online and there are always readings to attend – just make sure to let the poet know you appreciate them!  If you read widely, you’ll probably find something unique and mind-blowing that appeals to you. Click on over to the Western Colorado Writers’ Forum newsletter for events.

Most poems can be read in less than three minutes. So, you don’t really have an excuse. If you can read a poem a day for a year, then by the end of the year, you will surely have discovered some poems and poets that resonate with you and really stepped up your poetry game.

Never forget the words of TS Eliot: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.”

Lisa Wence Connors retired from the US Army and is now a mercenary writer and poet. She divides her time between Salt Lake City, UT, Fruita, CO, and the open road. She works with troubled and struggling teens in Salt Lake County, as well as facilitating creative writing workshops for the Mesa County Public Library and the Grand Junction VA. She is the Editor of High Desert Cadence: A Journal of Veteran Creative Writing. Her work has been published in the journals Proud to Be, Alexandria Quarterly, Bluestem Literary Journal, and Atlas & Alice, among others, as well as the anthologies Groundhogs, Crones, and Other Poems, The Gyroscope Review 2023 Anthology, and We are the West: Tributaries. She has been awarded a 2023 Missouri Humanities Poetry Award and two Gold Medals for Poetry from the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival.