This review was originally written for Teach Secondary magazine, but for some reason it became mislaid.

A great book for secondary school

One aspect of the English Programme of Study is to examine different forms of poetry, such as free verse, and also for students to prepare their own poetry and scripts.

Arranged in reverse chronological order, this book will help you find great examples of innovative approaches to writing poems, dating back to the 1840s. But what exactly is a prose poem? Unfortunately, there seems to be almost as many definitions as poets, but a quick summary would be to describe it as text that, while looking like prose, has the lyricism we associate with poetry. Some are technically intriguing, such as Chekhov: A Sestina, while others, like Rape Joke, are emotionally powerful.

It's divided into sections: the Prose Poem Now, the Postmodern Prose Poem and the Modern Prose Poem, so if you're covering a particular period or approach the book makes it easy to do so.

Very interesting and rewarding.

You’ll find a longer review here:

Penguin Book of the Prose Poem