Poemcrazy

An “optimistic, warm, unpretentious” (San Francisco Chronicle) guide to unlocking your inner poet, blending thoughtful anecdotes and practical exercises to foster inspiration and promote creativity

“This is a wonderful book—smart, wide-eyed, joyful, helpful, inspiring. You’re going to love it, and love writing poetry more for having read it.”—Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird

It’s impossible to teach anyone to write a poem. But we can set up circumstances in which poems are likely to happen. We can create a field in and around us that’s fertile territory for poems. Playing with words, we can get to the place where poems come from. We can write and make discoveries about who we are and who we might become whether or not we truly commit ourselves to becoming poets.

Poemcrazy is an invaluable resource for everyone who ever wanted to write a poem but was afraid to try. Writing workshop leader Susan Wooldridge shows you how to think, use your senses, and create habits that will help inspire poetic expression. She urges you to ignore the pressure of completing a poem; instead, she focuses on building inspiration through writing exercises that encourage mindfulness, imagination, and observation.

Amidst a fast-paced world, Poemcrazy invites you to slow down, reflect, and make the intentional choice to allow creativity in.“This is a wonderful book—smart, wide-eyed, joyful, helpful, inspiring. You’re going to love it, and love writing poetry more for having read it.”—Anne Lamott, author of Somehow: Thoughts on Love

“Wooldridge wants each of us to connect with our inner poet. Savvy . . . optimistic, warm, unpretentious.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Written with exuberance and great heart, Poemcrazy is a collection of high-spirited meditations and strategies which provide both writing teachers and students a wealth of approaches to poetry.”—Wild Duck Review

“Poemcrazy is, in its simplest sense, a book of ideas and techniques for people who teach poetry. But Wooldridge’s enthusiasm takes it into another realm, in which poetry is a state of mind, a way of being spiritual and powerful, a glimpse at the secrets of the inner self.”—Arizona Republic

“Jubilant . . . More than an instruction book for tapping the creative and beginning to write, Poemcrazy is also about being alertly alive. It is a field guide to imagination.”—Chico News and ReviewSusan G. Wooldridge conducts writing workshops privately, through Poets & Writers, Inc., and with the California Poets in the Schools program. She is the author of Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, a Book Sense Pick, a long-running Quality Paperback Book Club selection, and a Writer's Digest Book Club selection. She has also written a chapbook of poems, Bathing with Ants.