Helpful Resources for Creative Writing Students

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On Writing
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Julia Cameron “A course in discovering and recovering your creative self” |
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Annie Dillard “[I]lluminates the dedication, absurdity, and daring that characterize the existence of a writer” |
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Elizabeth Gilbert “[O]ffers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration” |
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Natalie Goldberg “Short, easy-to-read chapters offering suggestions, encouragements, and solid advice on many aspects of the writer’s craft” |
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Stephen King “Part memoir, part master class—a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft” |
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Anne Lamott “Hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice about writing for scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities” |
On Poetry
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Richard Hugo “Collection of lectures and reflections directed toward writing poems” |
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Dorianne Laux and Kim Addonizio “Brief essays on elements of poetry, each followed by writing exercises” |
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Letters to a Young Poet (1929) Rainer Maria Rilke “Advice on writing, love, sex, suffering, and the nature of advice itself” |
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Matthew Zapruder “Explores what poems are and how we can read them” |