HOW TO THINK LIKE A POET: THE POETS THAT MADE OUR WORLD AND WHY WE NEED THEM

(Dai George, Bloomsbury, £16.99)

A book containing 23 considerations of a wide variety of poets. Alongside the usual suspects, like Milton and Chaucer, we also find the classical Greek poet Sappho and the late 17th century Japanese poet, Matsuo Bashō, with each chapter a mix of biography and quotations. George puts something of a modern spin on the poets' works, making them more accessible. The author reimagines Sappho, for example, as a modern day big sister, anxiously checking her phone for a text from her brother, who went out the previous night and has yet to return home. The author's interpretations are highly engaging and readable, though a full bibliography would have been welcome, rather than the list of permissions we get. Otherwise, warmly recommended.

This book was first reviewed in Teach Secondary magazine.

Here’s my original review, the one I actually sent in:

In all, twenty three poets are considered, and they constitute a wide variety: alongside the usual ones like Milton and Chaucer, we find Sappho and Basho. Each chapter is a mixture of biography and quotations. Another plus point is that a wide variety of biographical sources are used. The modem spin can help to make the work of a poet "accessible", to employ that perhaps over-used term. For example, the author reimagines the classical poet Sappho as a modern-day big sister anxiously checking her phone constantly for a text from her brother who went out clubbing last night and still hasn't returned home. Thus the book is very readable, because the author's interpretations can be very engaging. A full bibliography, rather than only a list of permissions, would have been welcome; as it is, the reader has to trawl through the chapters to find some books again. However warmly recommended.