Poetry on Kindle - MERGED thread

[jrluzader]

I've searched through old posts and wasn't able to find many posts concerning poetry books.  If I missed something please forgive me (and allow me to blame the mistake on my newness).

My question is multifaceted:
Is there anyone out there who regularly reads poetry?
Does anyone have any suggestions for poetry works for the kindle (especially self-published)?


If it helps anyone out, my favorite big name poets (alive and dead) are Sharon Olds, Anne Sexton, Tony Hoagland, Charles Bukowski, and Alan Ginsberg.

I'd like to help out some self-publishing poets by buying their work (and I must admit that, as a poet myself, I am a bit curious as to whether self-published poetry sells at all).

Thanks.

[marianneg]

Did you look on the Book Bazaar board as well?  I remember at least one of the regulars over there publishing a book of poetry.  It was probably a while back, though.  I think Len Edgerly (host of the Kindle Chronicles podcast) has published some poetry on the Kindle, too.

[Winter9]

Emily Dickinson!!!!

[Richard Pierce]

--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread.

[Darcia]

One of the best indie authors of poetry that I've ever read is Magdalena Ball. She also has several poetry ebooks with coauthor Carolyn Howard-Johnson. The imagery in their work is incredible.

[Alain Gomez]

Emily Dickinson!!!!

I second this.

Edgar Allen Poe is also very good.

[Daphne]

I love poetry and read a lot. I have one favourite, old, dogeared anthology so that I can dip into all the best offerings from great poets - John Keats "The Eve of St. Agnes", Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott", Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" - I could go on forever, so I would suggest a really good, varied anthology. Having said that I don't have a general anthology on my Kindle but do have the following:

Witty, snappy, modern.
- fantastic, epic story if you enjoy the likes of Tolkien and enjoy Anglo-Saxon.
The Complete Works of Robbie Burns - would have preferred selected highlights - bit much, unless you really love Burns.
I do have one Indie book which I bought because I read the author's novel, which was beautifully written, and wanted to see her poetry - although this is still a couple down on my epic to-be-read list, so I'm still looking forward to trying it.

[joangolfing]

I enjoy reading the poems in The Seashell Anthology of Great Poetry by Christopher Burns on my Kindle.

[tim290280]

I recently read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner on Kindle. I think poetry could benefit from Kindles a lot, plenty of collections could be put together, won't lose money, etc.

[Daphne]

I enjoy reading the poems in The Seashell Anthology of Great Poetry by Christopher Burns on my Kindle.

I've been wanting an anthology of classic poems on Kindle, and this could be just the thing. Thankyou. (At least I can't wear the pages thin like I have on my paperback anthology!)

[Harry Shannon]

Haven't read poetry in many years but adored Robert Frost, Carl Sandburgh, ee cummings, Dylan Thomas, Poe, Tennyson, the brilliant Emily Dickinson, and especially William Butler Yeats.

[JRTomlin]

I love poetry and read it frequently. W. H. Auden is probably the one that I read most often. Unfortunately, few of the great poets are available on Kindle yet.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I love poetry and read it frequently. W. H. Auden is probably the one that I read most often. Unfortunately, few of the great poets are available on Kindle yet.

 

Any that are in the public domain are available via feedbooks, mobilread, or manybooks if not Amazon.  Of course that would not necessarily be most 20th century poets.  Still I just looked up Auden and all the ones Harry mentioned. . .there are at least a few volumes for each poet. . .sometimes collections, sometimes commentary.

[JRTomlin]

Any that are in the public domain are available via feedbooks, mobilread, or manybooks if not Amazon.  Of course that would not necessarily be most 20th century poets.  Still I just looked up Auden and all the ones Harry mentioned. . .there are at least a few volumes for each poet. . .sometimes collections, sometimes commentary.

Auden isn't public domain. He isn't on Kindle. If he is on feedbooks they are violating his copyright.

Edit: The Companion to Auden is on Kindle but that is a book about Auden (well worth reading) and not a collection of his poetry. Very little if any of Cummings is on Kindle yet either. The major 20th century poets just aren't represented well. That will come, I'm sure, but it's taking time.

[tim290280]

Haven't read poetry in many years but adored Robert Frost, Carl Sandburgh, ee cummings, Dylan Thomas, Poe, Tennyson, the brilliant Emily Dickinson, and especially William Butler Yeats.

I remember having to study ee cummings in Lit class. I always found him so pretentious.

[James Everington]

I don't read as much as I should; my favourites are Christina Rossetti, e.e. cummings, T.S. Eliot, Keats & Ted Hughes.

That Seashell anthology looks interesting!

[Thalia the Muse]

The Seashell Anthology is EXCELLENT. The formatting is good, too.

I also have The Giant Book of Poetry, another huge anthology. There's surprisingly little overlap, given that both books are large anthologies of poetic "greatest hits," and The Giant Book might be a tad stronger on contemporary poems than the Seashell. However, it is illustrated with oddly amateurish drawings -- but you can just click past those.

For both books, when you download the sample it includes the entire table of contents, so you can see exactly what you're getting and whether your favorite poets are represented. And they're both priced reasonably for the Kindle -- unlike the Garrison Keillor anthologies, which are well above the $10 mark.

[James Everington]

That's good to know about the formatting - that's kind of what I was worried about with poetry. Have sampled anyway, so we shall see.

[Mike McIntyre]

Raymond Carver!

[bnapier]

Is poetry something that hasn't really been explored in this form yet?  I haven't seen many titles (hardly any at all, actually) and didn't know if it was because of the formatting woes we've experienced with my book or just because there were no published poets that had been willing to try it yet.  

Thoughts?


--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread.

[NapCat]

Is poetry something that hasn't really been explored in this form yet?  I haven't seen many titles (hardly any at all, actually) and didn't know if it was because of the formatting woes we've experienced with my book or just because there were no published poets that had been willing to try it yet.  

Thoughts?


--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread.

Go to the Kindle Store and search on "poetry"
I come up with 2,505 pages of poetry books.

Happy Rhyming !!

[James Everington]

I've only got two poetry books on Kindle - one is an anthology with loads of famous poems (Whitman, Tennyson, Ginsberg etc.) - think it is called the Seashell Anthology.

The other I haven't read yet, but it's by an indie author whose short stories I liked a lot. It is the Haiku Diary by Neil Schiller.

cheers
James

[Daphne]

I have four poetry books on my Kindle and am planning to buy another. You may find this thread interesting: Poetry Suggestions, Anyone.


Some entertaining, Liverpudlian poetry.

[SheriLeigh]

Poetry is a niche market already - a very very small one. And it's hard to read on Kindle, I've found. Line breaks, fitting words on a page. It's important in poetry, much moreso than for prose.

That said, I love poetry. William Stafford is one of my fav's. And Mary Oliver and Sharon Olds. I'm in awe of what they can do with words.

[bnapier]

Poetry is a niche market already - a very very small one. And it's hard to read on Kindle, I've found. Line breaks, fitting words on a page. It's important in poetry, much moreso than for prose.

That said, I love poetry. William Stafford is one of my fav's. And Mary Oliver and Sharon Olds. I'm in awe of what they can do with words.

I totally understand that.  My book, A Mouth for Picket Fences, was released in trade paperback in September of 2010 and the press has just now gotten the formatting right for the conversion to Kindle.  The spacing and line breaks seem like a totally separate art on their own!