Review Detail

YOU/POET by Rayna Hutchison and Samuel Blake, the folks from HER HEART POETRY, is a tremendous gift to writers everywhere. The subtitle of this book is “Learn your art. Speak your truth. Share your voice,” and the authors show the readers how to do just that. The book starts off with a brief history of poetry and the different forms it has morphed into over the years. Then, it delves into craft and gives over seventy writing prompts to help get creative juices flowing. To finish, the authors give information about publishing and lists of resources for moving forward. In other words, if you want to be a poet, this book is for you.

Everything about YOU/POET is wonderful and is exactly what an aspiring writer needs. It serves up inspiration for beating writer’s block, it reiterates the need to practice and develop your talents, and it is encouraging about finding your voice. It also gives you the actual tools to do all of that. Unlike many other books, YOU/POET isn’t just theoretical. It is practical and tangible. This book could even be helpful to people who aren’t necessarily interested in poetry, but want to get better at writing descriptively and with feeling. Frankly, I wish I had this book years ago.

My favorite section is when the authors delve into the different poetry forms. I was familiar with some of them, but not all, and am now excited to give each one a try to see if I discover anything new about myself and my writing. I also loved that the authors addressed and embraced the recent poetry revolution on social media, and not only highlighted poets who have formed a following in that space, but gave tips about how we too can be successful there.

I can’t recommend YOU/POET enough and am thrilled that HER HEART POETRY jumped on the scene to foster community and betterment, instead of competition.

#poetryisntdead