Kenneth Koch Books

The simplist, profoundest stories are laid out in a delicate and spare way by Koch's nursing home students. Don't shy away because it might be sad- rejoice that Koch got these stories before they were lost. These aren't the poems people might write to impress others or even themselves- they explore the things that matter most.

If you teach anything creative- think about why you teach it. To give job skills? To meet state goals? Those are both fine reasons. But Koch is teaching in a nursing home to profoundly affect how people look at their inner landscape. Do you teach to empower and to change lives? Would you like to think that's what you do? I would read this not as a how-to but a why-to.

This book is a must for anyone working/playing with poetry and involved in introducing others to poetry. What is most astounding is Kenneth Koch's humility and honesty, and his willingness to admit mistakes made in teaching poetry to a group of old people at a nursing home. He divides the book very usefully as well. First he introduces the process from start to finish of the workshops, including some of the seniors' works. In the second half of the book, he prints the poems done by participants for each exercise first, then discusses what occurred during the session. One participant in particular is very much a poet, although he'd never written poetry before, and I fell quite in love with him. However, as the book went to press, Kenneth says, this man passed on. You will thouroughly enjoy this book. Aside from the poetry, it has alot to say about the assumptions we make about old and/or infirm people.

When one takes the time to read Koch's poetry in depth, it is an incomparable experience. The first time I read "To Marina", which is arguably my favorite of all poems, I was drawn in. I can read it again and again, constantly analyzing but at the same time feeling (and feeling deeply) the poem. Despite the number of times I have read "To Marina" each reading touches me anew and at times can move me to tears.

While one cannot put limits on creative expression, I was a bit put off by the fact that many of Koch's poems are several pages long and often his imagery strikes me as repetitive (although, in fairness, it is used differently).

Koch, when at his best, is simply too large and various to be adequately accounted for in this space. In the wasteland of contemporary poetry, those unfamiliar with Koch's genius may think he is exactly the kind of poet he so brilliantly parodies. For serious readers saddened by the predominant makeup of contemporary poetic demeanor, Koch is the perfect remedy.