Order of Book Series
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Poets on Poetry Books in Order

Poets on Poetry contains 143 books, published between 1959 and 2024. The first book is Four Poets on Poetry (1959) and the newest is How to Draw a Circle (2024). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
143
Published
1959–2024
Pages on record
20,910 in 103 of 143 books
Reading time
349–523 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 20,910 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 103 of 143 titles with a page count on record.

See all 143 books in order Printable Poets on Poetry checklist

Poets on Poetry collects essays, interviews and notes in which working poets write about the craft. The series holds 143 books published between 1959 and 2024, opening with Four Poets on Poetry (1959) and reaching How to Draw a Circle (2024). Individual volumes gather one poet's prose, as in Talking All Morning (1980) and The Spiral of Memory (1996). Subjects cover poetics, authorship, aesthetics and the history and criticism of American and English poetry. Median length is 185 pages.

How many Poets on Poetry books are there?

Poets on Poetry has 143 books, released between 1959 and 2024.

Poets on Poetry Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 143 Poets on Poetry books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Modern Russian Poets on Poetry by Carl R. Proffer, book 2 of the Poets on Poetry series (1976)
  2. Cover of Goatfoot Milktongue Twinbird: Interviews, Essays, and Notes on Poetry, 1970-76 by Donald Hall (1978)
  3. Cover of Walking Down the Stairs: Selections from Interviews by Galway Kinnell, book 4 of the Poets on Poetry series (1978)
  4. Cover of Writing the Australian Crawl: Views on the Writer's Vocation by William Stafford (1978)
  5. Cover of To Make a Prairie: Essays on Poets, Poetry, and Country Living by Maxine Kumin, book 6 of the Poets on Poetry series
  6. Cover of Open Between Us, book 7 of the Poets on Poetry series (1980)
  7. Cover of Thinking About Morality ) by William K. Frankena, book 8 of the Poets on Poetry series (1980)
  8. Cover of Pot Shots at Poetry by Robert Francis, book 10 of the Poets on Poetry series (1981)
  9. Cover of The Old Poetries and the New by Richard Kostelanetz, book 11 of the Poets on Poetry series (1981)
  10. Cover of A Company of Poets by Louis Simpson, book 12 of the Poets on Poetry series (1981)
  11. Cover of The Weather for Poetry: Essays, Reviews, and Notes on Poetry, 1977-81 by Donald Hall (1982)
  12. Cover of Claims for Poetry by Donald Hall, book 16 of the Poets on Poetry series (1982)
  13. Cover of Parti-Colored Blocks for a Quilt by Marge Piercy, book 18 of the Poets on Poetry series (1983)
  14. Cover of Collected Prose, book 19 of the Poets on Poetry series (1983)
  15. Cover of Writing Like a Woman by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, book 20 of the Poets on Poetry series (1983)
  16. Cover of Old Snow Just Melting: Essays and Interviews by Marvin Bell, book 21 of the Poets on Poetry series (1983)
  17. Cover of A Ballet for the Ear: Interviews, Essays, and Reviews, book 22 of the Poets on Poetry series (1983)
  18. Cover of Platonic Scripts, book 23 of the Poets on Poetry series (1984)
  19. Cover of Effluences from the Sacred Caves: More Selected Essays and Reviews by Hayden Carruth (1984)
  20. Cover of A Local Habitation: Essays on Poetry ) by John Frederick Nims, book 25 of the Poets on Poetry series (1985)
  21. Cover of No Evil Star: Selected Essays, Interviews, and Prose by Anne Sexton, book 26 of the Poets on Poetry series (1985)
  22. Cover of You Must Revise Your Life by William Stafford, book 27 of the Poets on Poetry series (1986)
  23. Cover of A Concert of Tenses: Essays on Poetry by Tess Gallagher, book 28 of the Poets on Poetry series (1986)
  24. Cover of Poetry and Ambition: Essays 1982--88 by Donald Hall, book 29 of the Poets on Poetry series (1988)
  1. 1
    Four Poets on Poetry1959 · confirmed 1/4
    1959–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 1
    The Spiral of Memory1996 · confirmed 1/4
    1996–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 2
    Modern Russian Poets on Poetry1976 · 203 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976203
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 3
    Goatfoot Milktongue Twinbird: Interviews, Essays, and Notes on Poetry, 1970-761978 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 4
    Walking Down the Stairs: Selections from Interviews1978 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 5
    Writing the Australian Crawl: Views on the Writer's Vocation1978 · 161 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978161
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 6
    To Make a Prairie: Essays on Poets, Poetry, and Country Living1980 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1980192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 7
    Open Between Us1980 · 296 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1980296
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 8
    Thinking About Morality )1980 · 98 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198098
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 9
    Talking All Morning1980 · 308 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1980308
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 10
    Pot Shots at Poetry1981 · 220 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981220
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 11
    The Old Poetries and the New1981 · 316 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981316
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 12
    A Company of Poets1981 · 358 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981358
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 13
    Don't Ask1981 · confirmed 1/4
    1981–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 14
    Living Off the Country: Essays on Poetry and Place1982 · 188 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1982188
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 15
    The Weather for Poetry: Essays, Reviews, and Notes on Poetry, 1977-811982 · 335 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1982335
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 16
    Claims for Poetry1982 · 498 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1982498
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 17
    Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-19821983 · confirmed 1/4
    1983–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 18
    Parti-Colored Blocks for a Quilt1983 · 327 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983327
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 19
    Collected Prose1983 · 334 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983334
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 20
    Writing Like a Woman1983 · 147 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983147
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 21
    Old Snow Just Melting: Essays and Interviews1983 · 282 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983282
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 22
    A Ballet for the Ear: Interviews, Essays, and Reviews1983 · 313 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983313
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 23
    Platonic Scripts1984 · 225 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984225
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 24
    Effluences from the Sacred Caves: More Selected Essays and Reviews1984 · 286 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984286
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 25
    A Local Habitation: Essays on Poetry )1985 · 306 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985306
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 26
    No Evil Star: Selected Essays, Interviews, and Prose1985 · 206 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985206
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 27
    You Must Revise Your Life1986 · 118 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986118
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 28
    A Concert of Tenses: Essays on Poetry1986 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 29
    Poetry and Ambition: Essays 1982--881988 · 207 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1988207
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Where to start with Poets on Poetry

Start with Four Poets on Poetry (1959), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Poets on Poetry book?

How to Draw a Circle (2024) is the newest Poets on Poetry book released so far.

Is there a new Poets on Poetry book coming?

No next Poets on Poetry book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Poets on Poetry at a glance

Still running
Poets on Poetry is still running, with a title published as recently as 2024.
Release pace
Poets on Poetry books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length
20,910 pages across the 103 of 143 books with a recorded length, a median of 185 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Poets on Poetry books, 46 of 143, were published in the 1990s.
Attribution
Of the 143 titles, 6 are credited to Charles Simic, 5 to Donald Hall, 4 to William Stafford and 2 to Philip Levine. A further 128 writers are credited. 6 titles carry no credit.

What the Poets on Poetry books are about

101 of the 143 Poets on Poetry books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: poetry is tagged on 83 of 101. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Poetry 83 of 101 books
  • Authorship 46 of 101 books
  • History and criticism 39 of 101 books
  • Poets 30 of 101 books
  • Poetics 27 of 101 books
  • Interviews 24 of 101 books
  • Poetry, history and criticism 24 of 101 books
  • Poetry, authorship 14 of 101 books
  • Biography 13 of 101 books
  • Aesthetics 12 of 101 books