I feel no shame in admitting that an entire row of my bookcase is reserved for craft books. It’s near the bottom, so I often sit on the floor criss-cross applesauce and pull them down from the shelf one by one, searching for a term or idea that I read once and cannot fully recite by heart. Sometimes I only have an inkling of a wispy word like syntax or a doorstop of a thing like anacoluthon (eek!). But recently, I took issue with my collection of craft books, which are mostly hold-overs from undergrad or picked off of book lists published by grad school programs I can’t afford to attend, the authors of these books are exceedingly pale, male, and old—if not dead.

This does not reflect the other shelves of my poetry collection, which are blessedly lined with books by Women, Black, Queer, Indigenous, Chicano, Latinx, and Asian poets…The reason for the mismatch between the books of poetry I read and the books about poetry I read are obvious: systemic racism, sexism, and homophobia in an academic system based on white supremacist ideals and control. But I am alarmed at how slow I was to notice! It could be because craft books (compared to poetry collections) are long, complex, and difficult to finish and so trudging through them I forgot to look back and examine the path behind. It could be that I am white and still learning to unpack my whiteness (and the whiteness of my teachers). Either way, my new goal is to find out about craft books written by POC authors, teachers, thought leaders, and poets. In this post, I’ll explain what I’ve found so far:

This Bridge Called My Back

Fourth Edition: Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua
THEORY, CRAFT, PRACTICE

When it comes to the origin of species credit must be given to This Bridge Called My Back for the number of times I have heard someone talk about how this book changed their whole life. Originally published in 1981 and now in its 4th edition (published in 2015), these writings by radical women of color have empowered and transformed a discourse on the hopes, fears, frustrations, and accomplishments of women of color for over 30 years.

Seen as a rallying call for women of color, TBCMB is a manifesto for some, an act of liberation for others, but we all have something to learn from these 336 pages originally assembled by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua.

Coin of the Realm

Essays on the Life and Art of Poetry by Carl Phillips
MEMOIR AS CRAFT 

Carl Phillips is a very influential figure in American poetics. He has won countless awards: the Lambda Literary Award for Best Poetry, an NAACP Image Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award among them; and he has steered the course of poetry and taste as judge of the Yale Younger Poets Series. To top it off, he is a prolific writer with over 13 books of poetry in print! 

None of these, however, are the reason I love Carl Phillips. I love Phillips for his essays about poetry, specifically in his short book from the “Art Of” series published by Graywolf Press The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, and Imagination. But another, maybe less well-known book by Phillips is Coin of the Realm. In it, you’ll find Phillips’ realness highly readable. Like other books in this genre of pseudo-memoir/craft exploration Phillips’ has included essays on specific poets and their styles such as George Herbert and T.S. Eliot. But my favorite essay in the book is “A Brief Stop on the Trail of the Prose Poem”—can you guess why?

Playing the Dark

Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison
LITERARY CRITICISM

As writers, especially as poets, we can draw our understanding of craft from many sources. While some literary criticism may not inform you when you actually turn to the page, Toni Morrison’s classic Playing the Dark most definitely will stay with you for a long time.

Originally published in 1993, as the result of questions raised at three lectures given at Harvard University combined with a course Morrison taught on American literature, Playing in the Dark is now essential reading for us all. Here, Morrison’s profound critique redefines the American literary eye and from that new futures have been crafted. Some of the other craft books recommended here are definitely post-Morrison in their thinking, so it behooves you to return to the mother-source (see also: Audre Lorde + James Baldwin). Why? Morrison puts it best when she writes “imagining is not merely looking or looking at; nor is it taking oneself intact into the other. It is, for the purposes of the work, becoming.”

The Cracks Between What We Are and What We Are Supposed to Be

Essays and Interviews by Harryette Mullen
LITERARY CRITICISM + THEORY

The Cracks Between What We Are and What We Are Supposed to Be is currently on backorder, so I was excited to track down a used copy in good shape. It’s an expensive book, I think because it is being marked-up as a “textbook” (because the already uber expensive education system just can’t help itself). So if you can find a copy for less than $50 I suggest you snatch it up!

Harryette Mullen is known for her innovative work in prose poetry, specifically her collection Sleeping with the Dictionary which was published in 2002 and helped herald in what I consider a new era for prose poetry (post-The World Doesn’t End Pulitzer win in 1990). In this 296 page book, Mullen dissects the future of poetic language between the specter of women’s voices, African American poetics, and the importance of both. She closely examines poets ranging from Paul Lawrence Dunbar to Wislawa Szymborska, including short essays with titles like “Kinky Quatrains” and longer works such as “Runaway Tongue.” If those titles don’t intrigue you, then these are not the poetry geeks you’re looking for.

How Dare We! Write

A Multicultural Creative Writing Discourse edited by Sherry Quan Lee
CRAFT + THEORY

As I hope you’re beginning to appreciate, I love all the craft books, but there’s still one kind of craft book that I love above all others and that is the extremely practical, helpful kind. That is why How Dare We! Write holds a special place in my heart. Right from the beginning you’ll be welcomed into this book with the section of essays “Literary Gatekeepers (and other myths).” From there you can cure your imposter syndrome, reclaim personal narratives, and learn new in-roads for “Writing as Spiritual Praxis”—yes please!

If you’re looking for a book that uses personal experiences to liberate the poet from the “highly politicized” space of the creative writing classroom, this is a good place to start. Called inspiring and rigorous by critics, HDWW is one of those rare books that makes you feel like you’ve come home.

Pivotal Voices, Era of Transition

Toward a 21st Century Poetics by Rigoberto Gonzalez
CHICANO POETICS, CRITICISM

Can I tell you a secret? One of the best places to learn the history of American poetry is by reading collections of book reviews. I know that sounds crazy, but book reviews tend to have all the hot gos.

Rigoberto Gonzalez is a beloved figure in the poetry community, and I don’t mean to imply that he’s a mean girl, but in this collection of book reviews and essays Gonzalez considers the work of emerging poets from the past 10 years. Published in 2017, here you will learn about the work of poets like Michael Martinez, Aracelis Girmay, and Natalie Diaz. You will better understand the context of Juan Felipe Herrera and (my all time fav) Sandra Cisneros. Plus! You will get to spend time with one of the most generous poetry teachers and thinkers of our age, Rigoberto Gonzalez, whose poetry books (especially Unpeopled Eden) are some of the best I have ever read.