Your say…

Our reviewing tips

This section is where you recommend a poetry book – or a book about poetry – that isn't discussed elsewhere on the site. It can be a brand new collection, or it could be a fascinating rediscovery.

One of the best things about reading is making a new discovery. A book so startlingly good, or just so unlike anything you've read, that it sticks in your mind for days… Even better is sharing the discovery with someone else, or getting a recommendation from a friend whose reading hunches you trust.

Tip: Keep your review to 150 words, and you may discover that writing about it in a strict word limit will help you work out what exactly you love, or loathe, or just can't grasp…

Our top five reviewing tips

  1. Don't limit yourself to just a sentence, but try to aim for a maximum of about 150 words.
  2. What's crucial? What must you make me understand? What's the thing that made this event stand out for you?
  3. Put the core of the matter at the start of your review, because that's where most readers will decide if they want to read further or not.
  4. Please quote if you want to. But always make clear where the quotation comes from, and only use a line or two at the most.
  5. Make your reader want to go and discover this poet for themselves!

Read poet Roddy Lumsden's handy reviewing checklist.

Submit a review

If you really enjoyed a book, or simply keep thinking about it and don't know what to make of it, then submit a review now to tell other readers about it.

Tip: Do please consider the feelings of the poets and others you write about, as well as those you are writing for.

 

 

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