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#BookReview: Word Craft: Prose & Poetry by Colleen M Chesebro @ColleenChesebro @SyllabicPoetry

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Hi everyone! Today, I have a book review for an author I respect immensely, and whom many of you know, Colleen Chesebro >>>

About the Book:

Book cover for Word Craft Prose and Poetry by Colleen Chesebro

Are you ready to learn how to craft Japanese and American poetry? Consider this book the first step on your journey to learning the basics of how to craft syllabic poetry. Inside, you will discover many new forms, syllable combinations, and interpretations of the different Japanese and American forms and structures of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, renga/solo renga, gogyohka, haibun, tanka prose, the cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry.

So… what are you waiting for? Let’s craft syllabic poetry together!

 

My Review:

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This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn how to write syllabic poetry such as Haiku, Senryu, Etheree, and many more. Section one covers Japanese syllabic poetry, and section two shows us American forms.

The author includes photos in the book to illustrate sources of inspiration for some of the poetry examples. In the paperback version, these pictures are black and white, but Ms Cheeseboro also lists aspects of the images, which mention the colours that were prominent in the original.

Each chapter introduces the reader to a certain poetic form and gives us the history as well as essential points to remember and excellent examples. The tone throughout is encouraging and easy to understand.

Along with this guide, aspiring poets will benefit from Colleen Cheeseboro’s weekly poetry challenges, which you will find on her blog (https://wordcraftpoetry.com/).

This is a reference I shall return to again and again, and it gets a solid five stars from me.

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NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.

4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.

3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.

2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.

1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

I’d love to hear what you think of this review. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

 

For anyone interested, here are the Amazon links …

UK … https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08R8XRTB2/

US … https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R8XRTB2/

 

45 Comments on “#BookReview: Word Craft: Prose & Poetry by Colleen M Chesebro @ColleenChesebro @SyllabicPoetry”

  3. Kudos to Colleen for getting this book together and out there and into the hands of those who want to learn more about this type of poetry. I’ve goofed around with her weekly challenges but I know what I write is not “correct” (though it is fun) and am looking forward to reading this great resource. 💖 Thanks for sharing, Harmony.

    • The challenges are great fun, I agree. I think you’d enjoy working through this little guide. Thanks, Sarah 💕🙂

  4. I thought this a wonderful resource too full of helpful examples. I have my own paperback copy which I will treasure. 🙂

    • So deserved! Thank you so much for your wonderful syllabic poetry guide and challenges! 💕🙂

  7. What a wonderful review for Colleen’s book. She is a master poet! Thank you for sharing, Harmony!

  8. Great review, Harmony! I’m just now starting to play around with syllabic poetry. I usually write free verse, but watching you and others write poems for Colleen’s challenges has sparked my interest. Thanks for sharing her book today. 🙂

    • That’s wonderful to know. I’m finding Colleen’s challenges a great place for learning and growing in the syllabic forms. Thanks, Yvi 🙂

  9. Thank you, Harmony, for sharing your review and featuring Colleen. She’s an amazing teacher, and her book is a testimony of that talent. Congratulations, Colleen! 😊

  11. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a poetry instruction book before. Even in college, the professors just taught the forms to us. We didn’t have books. This is a great idea. Kudos to Colleen for putting this resource together. Thanks for sharing, Harmony.

  13. A lovely review of Colleen’s book, Harmony. I am also slowly making my way through it.