The Art of Attention: A Poet's Eye - Paperback

The Art of Attention: A Poet's Eye by Donald Revell

Donald Revell's The Art of Attention: A Poet's Eye offers poets and writers a transformative approach to understanding poetry craft. Part of Graywolf Press's acclaimed Art Of series, this guide moves beyond traditional workshop techniques to explore how imagination expands sensory experience through poetry.

A Fresh Perspective on Poetry Craft

Revell challenges conventional approaches to poetry writing. "The art of poetry is not about the acquisition of wiles or the deployment of strategies," he argues. Instead, this book demonstrates how "beginning in the senses, imagination senses farther, senses more." This philosophy grounds the entire work, offering poets a method rooted in authentic vision rather than formulaic technique.

Learning from Masters Past and Present

The book draws from an impressive range of poetic voices spanning centuries. Revell analyzes works by William Blake and Henry David Thoreau alongside contemporary poets Ronald Johnson and John Ashbery. He supplements these analyses with examples from his own poetry and translations, providing readers with concrete demonstrations of attention and imagination at work.

About The Art Of Series

The Art Of series is a new series of brief books by contemporary writers on important craft issues. Each book investigates an element of the craft of fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry by discussing works by authors past and present. The books in the Art Of series are not strictly manuals, but serve readers and writers by illuminating aspects of the craft of writing that people think they already know but don't really know.