How to Read a Poem

Poetry for life. Start here.

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“ This will be the main textbook for the poetry unit from now on.”

—Tom Hunley

It started simply enough.

A book by Tania Runyan, about how to read a poem—based on the Billy Collins poem "Introduction to Poetry."

Then the stories started pouring in, and we listened with awe. Readers new to poetry, teachers, people who'd come late to poetry, they told us:

this book can change everything.

Let it change your classroom, your students, or your life.

Buy How to Read a Poem Now!

How to Read a Poem covers

“ I require all our incoming poetry students—in the MFA I direct—to buy and read this book.”

—Jeanetta Calhoun Mish

* * *

“ This book will not sit on my shelf, but on my desk.”

—Lexanne Leonard

how to read a poem stories

Creativity Secrets

Reading and writing poetry is a creative pursuit. Our book on creativity can help make you a better reader and writer of poems. Don’t miss it. Check out Spin: Taking Your Creativity to the Nth Degree.

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how to read a poem videos

More Teaching Tools

For librarians, teachers, group leaders: we have teaching tools that will make it easier for you to plan your poetry and writing programs, including prompts, infographics, poem analyses and a poets coloring book.

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Public Poetry Days

We’re committed to investing in "Poetry for Life." To this end, we sponsor four public days for poetry each year—from the informative to the whimsical. Join us in bringing poetry home, to work, and to the public square!

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how to read a poem teaching tools

Get Featured!

Do you have a story about How to Read a Poem? We want to hear it (and maybe feature it!). Tell us how it affected your personal journey with poems, or how you successfully used it in the classroom.

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Featured Posts

Poems about Reading Book Art

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You know you love books. Or perhaps you know some students who need to reignite the spark from childhood. The following poems celebrate all things … [Read More...]

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Similes on the Spot

When you live ten minutes from a major amusement park and hate roller coasters, you spend a lot of time sitting on benches waiting for other people to … [Read More...]

Graveyard in the Red Woods Halloween Spooky How to Write a Halloween Poem

How to Write a Halloween Poem

As I survey the ever-growing violence of Halloween displays in my neighborhood, I wonder if we've begun to replace fear and mystery with plain old … [Read More...]

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How to Read a Poem, by Tania Runyan · Copyright T. S. Poetry Press © 2025 · Photos by Claire Haidar · Privacy Policy


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