Ordering the Storm: How to Put Together a Book of Poems

by
Susan Grimm, editor
Published in 2006
by Cleveland State University Poetry Center

“When we have a problem, we look for advice—what do others do? Not so we can replicate their strategies, but so we can listen, consider, begin to make wordless decisions deep in the cerebral mass. It is the conversation that is useful, rather than the single instruction,” writes Susan Grimm in her introduction to Ordering the Storm. The book is comprised of essays by eleven poets, including Maggie Anderson, Wanda Coleman, Beckian Fritz Goldberg, and Bonnie Jacobson, reflecting on the process of assembling a collection of poetry. The essays offer a range of perspectives and approaches to the task of arranging poems while providing a sense of community with each voice and insight.