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Fooling with Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft
Fooling with Words is an intimate, inspirational celebration of language in its most exalted form and of the importance of poetry in our lives today. In dozens of poems and a series of fascinating conversations with poets of all stripes gathered for the acclaimed Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, Fooling with Words brings poetry to life for the reader. Bill Moyers has been covering the poetry beat for more than a decade, and in the fall of 1998 he returned to the Dodge Festival with his public television cameras, capturing the performances of the poets, and, in interviews with them, their dazzling array of images, metaphors, and emotions. Coleman Barks not only reads from his translations of Rumi, but also shares the poems that he wrote in tribute to his "most beautiful granddaughter." Mark Doty talks with Moyers about "poetry's great power to preserve, its ability to take a moment in time and hold it forever." Jane Hirshfield talks about the influence on her poetry of the eight years she studied Zen, including three years in a monastery when she didn't write at all. Moyers listens to these and other poets including Lorna Dee Cervantes, Deborah Garrison, Paul Muldoon, Marge Piercy, Kurtis Lamkin, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Stanley Kunitz, and Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, and weaves another invaluable and enjoyable tapestry of poems with the memorable voices of the poets themselves. Anyone who loves poetry or is seeking a special gift will cherish Fooling with Words.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
10 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
Bill Moyers
125books120followersBilly Don "Bill" Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965-1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers had an extensive involvement with public television, producing documentaries and news journal programs. He has won numerous awards and honorary degrees. He has become well known as a trenchant critic of the U.S. media. Since 1990, Moyers has been President of the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy. He lives in New York City, New York, United States.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 22, 2007
Fooling With Words is a collection of interviews of poets conducted by television journalist Bill Moyers at the Dodge Poetry Festival.
The Dodge Poetry Festival seems enormous and a bit weird - audiences in the thousands show up to hear some of the best poets in America read, and they clap and cheer and whoop as if they were at a rock concert. Reading about it - hearing the poets talk about their craft, about readings, and sharing their favorite poems - did a lot to restore my faith in good poetry and the existence of interesting and un-icky readings.
I think the problem comes down to how hard it is to make great poetry and how easy it is to write something that looks like a poem. More than one poet in the book compared the art to jazz, which I liked - anyone can improvise on a saxophone, but you have to learn to play before you can start making things up that are beautiful and meaningful. Sure, I can put a bunch of words on a page in a poem-like shape, but only the true poets know how hard writing poetry is.
One poet, Jane Hirshfield, was asked about her religion. Although she almost never explicitly writes about it, she is a Zen Buddhist who spent several years in a monastery. She describes herself as a “Teahouse Buddhist� - one who never overtly writes about Buddhism, but one whose poetry is filled with it. She explains: ”It refers to leading your life as if you were an old woman who has a teahouse on the side of the road. Nobody knows why they like to go there, they just feel good drinking her tea. She’s not known as a Buddhist teacher� all she does is simply serve tea - but still, her decades of attentiveness are part of the way she does it. No one knows about her faithful attentiveness to her practice, it’s just there, in the serving of her tea and the way she cleans the counters and washes the cups.�
Although Hirshfield is talking about the tacit religion in her poetry, I think that the idea can be expanded to all of poetry - great poets must be teahouse poets. No, there’s no way to tell on the surface which poems have that attentiveness, which poems are filled with real subject matter, faith, and compassion. But, reading them aloud, it’s there - hidden, but obviously affecting each word and line.
For example, while most amateur poetry readings I’ve been to focus on traditionally poetic subjects - love, death, nature, and of course, writing poetry - the poets in this book make contemporary subjects poetic: office conflicts, television, adopting a dog. Sure, all of the latter poems have a deeper layer concerning the former subjects, but the latter poems also tell a story and the latter poems are not afraid to be subtle or even a little commonplace.
The poems in Fooling With Words don’t have to hide behind flowery language or the shock of private subject matter. They are simple. They sound beautiful because the poets have toiled over word choice and rhythm and meter, and then they have worked even harder to make all of their hard work hidden - to make it look clean and easy and natural.
I’m still not sure if I want to go to any more literary reading and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be one of the 4,000 people doing the wave for Kurtis Lamkin at the Dodge Poetry Festival. But it is good to know that there are some wonderful contemporary poets out there, working away quietly in their teahouses.
The Dodge Poetry Festival seems enormous and a bit weird - audiences in the thousands show up to hear some of the best poets in America read, and they clap and cheer and whoop as if they were at a rock concert. Reading about it - hearing the poets talk about their craft, about readings, and sharing their favorite poems - did a lot to restore my faith in good poetry and the existence of interesting and un-icky readings.
I think the problem comes down to how hard it is to make great poetry and how easy it is to write something that looks like a poem. More than one poet in the book compared the art to jazz, which I liked - anyone can improvise on a saxophone, but you have to learn to play before you can start making things up that are beautiful and meaningful. Sure, I can put a bunch of words on a page in a poem-like shape, but only the true poets know how hard writing poetry is.
One poet, Jane Hirshfield, was asked about her religion. Although she almost never explicitly writes about it, she is a Zen Buddhist who spent several years in a monastery. She describes herself as a “Teahouse Buddhist� - one who never overtly writes about Buddhism, but one whose poetry is filled with it. She explains: ”It refers to leading your life as if you were an old woman who has a teahouse on the side of the road. Nobody knows why they like to go there, they just feel good drinking her tea. She’s not known as a Buddhist teacher� all she does is simply serve tea - but still, her decades of attentiveness are part of the way she does it. No one knows about her faithful attentiveness to her practice, it’s just there, in the serving of her tea and the way she cleans the counters and washes the cups.�
Although Hirshfield is talking about the tacit religion in her poetry, I think that the idea can be expanded to all of poetry - great poets must be teahouse poets. No, there’s no way to tell on the surface which poems have that attentiveness, which poems are filled with real subject matter, faith, and compassion. But, reading them aloud, it’s there - hidden, but obviously affecting each word and line.
For example, while most amateur poetry readings I’ve been to focus on traditionally poetic subjects - love, death, nature, and of course, writing poetry - the poets in this book make contemporary subjects poetic: office conflicts, television, adopting a dog. Sure, all of the latter poems have a deeper layer concerning the former subjects, but the latter poems also tell a story and the latter poems are not afraid to be subtle or even a little commonplace.
The poems in Fooling With Words don’t have to hide behind flowery language or the shock of private subject matter. They are simple. They sound beautiful because the poets have toiled over word choice and rhythm and meter, and then they have worked even harder to make all of their hard work hidden - to make it look clean and easy and natural.
I’m still not sure if I want to go to any more literary reading and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be one of the 4,000 people doing the wave for Kurtis Lamkin at the Dodge Poetry Festival. But it is good to know that there are some wonderful contemporary poets out there, working away quietly in their teahouses.
December 19, 2015
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading more poetry but doesn't know where to begin. Not only did Moyers choose successful and talented poets, but his own prose, in introducing them, was wonderful to read as well. To say this is now a favorite book of mine is an understatement. I will treasure it. I wish I had a photographic memory so that I could mentally browse through it at will. Instead, I'll be content to often pull it off the shelf. While I didn't connect with all the poems included, I loved that each poet talked about the meaning of their poems, why they chose to become poets, what inspires them, and their approach to the craft. It was illuminating and enjoyable. I wish that Moyers had interviewed a hundred more poets so that I could continue enjoying this book for a long time to come.
June 26, 2022
I apparently started and lost a review in the complications of my day yesterday, but I really enjoyed this! I love hearing about how writers work, and the idea of a festival for word music is so appealing. I see there is going to be a Dodge poetry festival this year which is encouraging even if I am highly unlikely to attend, lol.
November 2, 2010
I loved this book. Bill Moyers interviews several poets at the Dodge Poetry Festival on their methods, philosophy, day to day writing of poetry. Then he allows them to provide samples of his and their favorite poems. This is a wonderful introduction to many different poets as well as to the making and inspiration of poetry.
March 29, 2023
So beautifully written. This book opened my eyes to a different side of poetry and how important words are to me. How necessary it is to put my words into a poem to make some things more understandable! it truly taught me so much. All of the poets wrote in such a comforting way
February 23, 2018
Enjoyable book, interviews with several poets during a festival about what poetry means to them and how it sustains them. One common theme I found not surprising, how many examples of how poetry saved their lives. I absolutely related. As a young person, I remembered, sitting in corners, alone writing words, coping with a sad, broken life, poetry helped me cope and also saved me. Reading poetry spoke to me, I felt the words. When I read good poetry I still feel it. When words enter my mind, they help me make sense of what is happening around me.
The poems and poets shared were amazing.
The poems and poets shared were amazing.
July 3, 2022
Le journaliste interviewe des poètes lors d'un festival. Publié en 98, ère Monica Lewinsky, folie internet et intérêt pour le zen, apparemment.
En termes de représentations, c'est déjà bien meilleur qu'en France (aka, pas que des mecs blancs : des femmes, des femmes racisées, un homme racisé, un homme blanc homosexuel...).
Pas de coup de cœur pour un poème ou un•e poète mais des reflexions interessantes (mark doty, marge piercy, jane hirschfield..).
Le poème sur le mariage de marge, le poème jump mama, de kurtis lamkin.
En termes de représentations, c'est déjà bien meilleur qu'en France (aka, pas que des mecs blancs : des femmes, des femmes racisées, un homme racisé, un homme blanc homosexuel...).
Pas de coup de cœur pour un poème ou un•e poète mais des reflexions interessantes (mark doty, marge piercy, jane hirschfield..).
Le poème sur le mariage de marge, le poème jump mama, de kurtis lamkin.
February 7, 2021
This little book of interviews with poets at the Dodge Poetry Festival is an interesting look at the myriad ways poets approach their work. Moyers provides a good variety of viewpoints here, not all of which I connected with. But when I did, I was taking notes and scribbling down poems. Definitely recommend.
March 19, 2022
Great little book where he interviews 11 poets from the Geraldine R Dodge Poetry festival (which I went to once).
What a surprise for me when I saw my best writing teacher ever was included.
Kurtis Lamkin is amazing as a writer performer teacher and person.
Check out on youtube "Kurtis Lamkin reading 2 poems at the 2006 Dodge poetry festival."
What a surprise for me when I saw my best writing teacher ever was included.
Kurtis Lamkin is amazing as a writer performer teacher and person.
Check out on youtube "Kurtis Lamkin reading 2 poems at the 2006 Dodge poetry festival."
April 28, 2018
A fabulous collection of interviews with some of the best contemporary poets. Moyers conducted the interviews in connection with one of the Dodge Poetry Festival.
August 12, 2018
This book was useful as a conversational introduction to numerous modern poets, but I found that I enjoyed the poetry of only a few of these. Cervantes, Hirshfield, and Lim were welcome discoveries.
March 17, 2020
Still don't understand what poetry really is. But this book helped a lot. :)
April 9, 2020
Bill Moyers once again demonstrates that a great listener elicits a great deal, in this case from a varied group of American poets.
August 14, 2024
A lot of the questions were incredible, but some felt overly complimentary
November 13, 2020
So many insights when reading poetry. Bill Moyers does a great job at involving the readers as audience members.
April 4, 2011
Moyers interviews poets who talk about their work and life. Includes three or four poems by each.
Moyers wrote this while attending a poetry festival. He also filmed a documentary. The book may be the least fun of the three, which is something I rarely say about books. Some interviews are better than others, just as some poems are better than others.
While I like that the goal is to make a book about the person and the poem instead of a stiff how to read / appreciate poetry, there are a few moments where it comes off a bit self congratulatory. Maybe it's that it's a transcript and I can't see the authors speaking to know if they're being sincere, funny, or ridiculous and/or pompous.
Not sorry I read it, some of it was interesting, and if you want to read it, I wouldn't discourage you.
Moyers wrote this while attending a poetry festival. He also filmed a documentary. The book may be the least fun of the three, which is something I rarely say about books. Some interviews are better than others, just as some poems are better than others.
While I like that the goal is to make a book about the person and the poem instead of a stiff how to read / appreciate poetry, there are a few moments where it comes off a bit self congratulatory. Maybe it's that it's a transcript and I can't see the authors speaking to know if they're being sincere, funny, or ridiculous and/or pompous.
Not sorry I read it, some of it was interesting, and if you want to read it, I wouldn't discourage you.
February 15, 2014
This has been on my shelf for years, and I'm very glad that, on a recent sleepless night, I reached for it. (The middle of the night is when, oddly enough, one contributor recommended reading poetry.) Moyers interviews a variety of poets at the Dodge Poetry Festival (a terrific event held every other year in New Jersey) about what spurred their writing; the relationship between writer and reader; and how best to "take in" poetry. Intermingled in the folksy conversations are the poets' works. Of course, given the very subjective nature of poetry, some works appeal to the reader more than others, but the book provides a really eclectic sampling of different voices and could be a very effective entree to those who may feel a bit intimidated by poetry. Timely snow day reading too!
March 24, 2010
This is a collection of interviews of poets conducted by television journalist Bill Moyers at the Dodge Poetry Festival.
I found a lot of the poets interesting; I always like hearing how real-life experiences translate into poems.
I was overly annoyed, however, when one subject goes on and on about the way the word "Gloria" is sung in the Hallelujah Chorus and how meaningful it is blah blah blah. The word "gloria" does not appear in the Hallelujah Chorus. (I realize these are interview transcriptions but a footnote would have done a lot to ease my irritation.
I found a lot of the poets interesting; I always like hearing how real-life experiences translate into poems.
I was overly annoyed, however, when one subject goes on and on about the way the word "Gloria" is sung in the Hallelujah Chorus and how meaningful it is blah blah blah. The word "gloria" does not appear in the Hallelujah Chorus. (I realize these are interview transcriptions but a footnote would have done a lot to ease my irritation.
December 18, 2018
I stumbled upon this book in my grandmother's collection. Wary that it might be little more than a souvenir targeting those who have attended the Dodge Poetry Festival, I was pleasantly surprised to find it a real gem in its own right. As an anthology it's a lovely collection of poems; as a piece of journalism it shines too, all the interviews being thoughtful and insightful (for poets, it turns out, can be counted on to say interesting things), and Moyers' introductory vignettes setting the scene nicely.
April 21, 2010
A collection of poets and poetry with interviews and commentary by Moyers. He feels that by interviewing and knowing the poets we will better understand the poetry. I liked this book and would recommend it but I still don’t have a great understanding for poetry; at least the way I would like. This is a very readable book with insight into the lives of about 11 poets.
July 14, 2012
I loved this book because I really enjoy poetry. His interviews with poets clearly show his appreciation of the written word and of what makes each of them unique. I am about halfway through "The Language of Life." I have learned about some great new poets through this set of books, and gotten some writing inspiration.
December 14, 2013
A collection of interviews of poets at the Dodge poetry festival. It is an attempt to bring poetry closer to the average joe. And I think this was accomplished. I often wade into the poetry at the library but often emerge feeling a failure. Either I don't get it or I feel stupid for not getting it. But after reading this book, I am willing to try again and without being so hard on myself.
January 24, 2016
Bill Moyers is a top-notch journalist who demonstrates a love for people and a passion for democracy. Here he introduces us to several contemporary poets recognized for their craft and reveals the stories behind their words. I found a few new poets I want to explore further and several I can continue to live without.
August 23, 2007
The interviews were so insightful. I had lunch with Paul Muldoon and the portrait that Moyers paints of him is accurate and endearing. Great book overall for those who are well-versed in contemporary poetry.
March 27, 2008
I love anything Bill Moyers does with regard to poetry. This book includes interviews with poets like Mark Doty, Jane Hirschfield and Stanley Kunitz. "Fooling with Words" and his series for PBS "The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets" and corresponding book are must haves for poetry lovers.
June 15, 2010
has a very nice chapter with Marge Piercy and Shirley Geok-Lin Lim. Bill Moyers introduces poets and does and "interview" of sorts with them. Usually questions to do with a specific poem. Not too highbrow, and Moyers allows authors to speak.
September 27, 2011
I love Bill Moyers and I love poetry. Bill shares a bit of his personal journey as a poetry lover, but mainly the book is a collection of interviews and poems with some of the poets Bill has interviewed at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival.
June 5, 2015
I have had the grace to meet most of these wonderful poets and recently went to BI where Coleman Barks and Billy Collins read and were delightful. These book really brings you there as an audience member of Dodge and I would highly recommend it.
April 11, 2013
The question and answer format works beautifully. I would love to read ten volumes of this! What poets say about poetry in general is super interesting. There are just enough poems included to give it all context.
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