{"product_id":"we-begin-in-gladness-how-poets-progress-9781555978211","title":"We Begin in Gladness: How Poets Progress","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of our most perceptive critics on the ways that poets develop poems, a career, and a life\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThough it seems, at first, like an art of speaking, poetry is an art of listening. The poet trains to hear clearly and, as much as possible, without interruption, the voice of his or her mind, the voice that gathers, packs with meaning, and unpacks the language he or she knows. It can take a long time to learn to let this voice speak without getting in its way. This slow learning, the growth of this habit of inner attentiveness, is poetic development, and it is the substance of the poet's art. Of course, this growth is rarely steady, never linear, and is sometimes not actually growth but diminishment--that's all part of the compelling story of a poet's way forward. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e--from the Introduction\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The staggering thing about a life's work is it takes a lifetime to complete,\" Craig Morgan Teicher writes in these luminous essays. \u003ci\u003eWe Begin in Gladness\u003c\/i\u003e considers how poets start out, how they learn to hear themselves, and how some offer us that rare, glittering thing: lasting work. Teicher traces the poetic development of the works of Sylvia Plath, John Ashbery, Louise Gl ck, and Francine J. Harris, among others, to illuminate the paths they forged--by dramatic breakthroughs or by slow increments, and always by perseverance. \u003ci\u003eWe Begin in Gladness\u003c\/i\u003e is indispensable for readers curious about the artistic life and for writers wondering how they might light out--or even scale the peak of the mountain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Graywolf Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/06\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781555978211\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.90w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/09\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2018\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Craig Morgan Teicher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43766751494325,"sku":"9781555978211","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_f58587a5-154d-4e06-9601-5dfe388f0320.jpg?v=1710818083","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/we-begin-in-gladness-how-poets-progress-9781555978211","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}