Craft: Drafts and How Poems Get Made

Mandelstam, Rukeyser, Plath, Dickinson

Writing poetry is hard work. Stanley Kunitz called “the most difficult and life-enhancing thing a person can do.” But the hard work of poetry mostly happens unseen. When we’re reading finished poems in books or magazines, it’s rare that we get to see a draft, to see how the sausage actually gets made.

Poets often feel uneasy about sharing their drafts.…