Blueprints

How does one bring poetry to a community? And who is going to make it happen? In response to these questions posed by the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, Katharine Coles and a cadre of poets and artists provide this essential guide and inspiration. Blueprints creates for poets and arts organisers the sense that they are part of a larger, noble endeavour based in shared values and commitment to poetry. The first three sections include essays by a dozen poets and artists about the ways they have brought poetry into different kinds of communities. These essays demonstrate what has been done and what can be done and will inspire others to bring poetry into their own communities. The final section provides a practical ""toolkit"" loaded with experience-based advice and the tools and strategies necessary to accomplish those endeavours. Essayists: Elizabeth Alexander Sherwin Bitsui Lee Briccetti Alison Hawthorne Deming Dana Gioia Robert Hass Bas Kwakman Thomas Lux Christopher Merrill Luis Rodriguez Anna Deavere Smith Patricia Smith Contributors to the Toolkit: Elizabeth Allen Susan Boskoff Katharine Coles Tree Swenson Orlando White