Skip to content
Notes of Oak
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Self-Portrait
Image of ekphrastic poetry inspiring blue abstract art Discover Literature

Ekphrastic Poetry: When Art Kindles Literature

  • 01/25/201902/24/2023
  • by Hannah Huff

MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN POETS RUMINATE ON MASTERPIECES


Ekphrastic poetry is right up there with the villanelle, the ghazal, the abecedarian, and other specific poetic forms that lead a highly intramural existence: poets know what they are, but rarely write them once they leave the MFA creative writing programs where they’re required to spit out such guided assignments. The problem is that in the real world, most readers don’t know what the hell those words mean, let alone the nuances of each form, and as a poet struggling to make even $5 off a poem — actually, make that even $1 — there’s no point in also struggling to write poems that have ground rules: we poets must have some small joy in our feats of creation.

But what a loss! All of those types of poetry, and the one we’re here to discuss today — ekphrastic poetry — can crack the shell on pithy nuts of insight that will never otherwise be opened through our usual, more organic modes of inspiration and composition. Thus, this blog post will hopefully educate readers on the joys of an unfamiliar type of poetry, and also rouse writers from their creative stupor — including myself.

Read more “Ekphrastic Poetry: When Art Kindles Literature” →
Photo of line paper for poetic line breaks guide on Notes of Oak Literary Blog Discover Literature

Dear Bad Writers, Read This Poetic Line Breaks Guide

  • 11/08/201802/24/2023
  • by Hannah Huff

STEP UP YOUR POETRY GAME WITH BETTER LINE BREAKS AND ENJAMBMENT


What makes a poem, a poem? Long story short, poetic line breaks. Of course, many other literary elements fuse to make poems croon, but poetry is visibly distinct from prose because its lines are sundered before the page’s natural end, at clearly calculated points. Poems are dialogues between the presence that is the text and the absence that is the white space revealed.

Read more “Dear Bad Writers, Read This Poetic Line Breaks Guide” →
8 Key Elements in Every Literary Masterpiece Notes of Oak Blog Discover Literature

8 Key Literary Elements in Every Written Masterpiece

  • 09/20/201802/24/2023
  • by Hannah Huff

WHAT GOOD READERS SHOULD LOOK FOR IN GREAT BOOKS


Good books transcend genre; their caliber doesn’t depend on their focus. Indeed, the very best books are often about nothing at all, other than planning a party (ahem, Mrs. Dalloway), and yet, they can transform the reader through their use of these eight key literary elements. Any written masterpiece should employ these techniques in abundance, synthesizing them to create a reading experience as rich as running your palm over a mossy boulder beside the ocean on an autumn afternoon as your love makes tea inside an amber-lit beach house.

Read more “8 Key Literary Elements in Every Written Masterpiece” →

SEARCH FOR POETIC BULLION

BLOG POST CATEGORIES

  • Book Review 9
  • Discover Literature 5
  • Literary Analysis 4
  • Poeticize the Prosaic 1
  • Reader Lifestyle 6

RECENT POSTS

  • Photo of Rocks Representing Essayism Book Review on Notes of Oak Literary Blog‘Essayism’ by Brian Dillon is Dark, Bright Bricolage
  • Photo of Book Shelves for 5 Creative Book Titles Blog Post Notes of Oak Literary BlogHere’s Why These 5 Creative Book Titles Work
  • The Japanese Linguistic Landscape by Nakanishi Susumu Book Review‘The Japanese Linguistic Landscape’ is Quintessential Reading
  • Literary Submissions Guide 2019 Blog HeaderLiterary Submissions Guide – 2019 Edition
  • The Nature of Photographs by Stephen Shore Nonfiction Book Review Notes of Oak Literary Blog‘The Nature of Photographs’ Is as Rich as Prose-Poetry

Please visit your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription to receive new Notes of Oak blog posts via e-mail.

Follow Me

© 2023 Hannah Huff
Theme by Colorlib Powered by WordPress
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Self-Portrait