question for experienced poets

[Vanity]

Hi there! I have a basic question for the more experienced writers/ poets out there.
What really constitutes a "poetry collection"? I mean, do all the poems have to relate to one another? That is the most common kind I've seen.
 Or can it be kind of a greatest hits compilation? How many poems in typical collections (or pages...or line counts) I'm just trying to get an overview here...any advice is appreciated
Thanks!

[Leanne]

It's pretty odd to even think of a "greatest hits" if you're still writing -- that's more of a "I'm about to die and my kids will need some money to stop them fighting over who feeds the cat" kind of thing.

The best collections have a common thread, recurring themes or similarity of voice/style. Something that ties them together. There is usually some kind of order to the poems, be it chronological (in theme/concept, not necessarily the order they were written in) or building some logical (or illogical) argument. Many will centre around a pivotal poem and each poem will be chosen to comment on/ complement/ contrast with that piece.

Putting together a collection is a difficult and deliberate thing. It's not too hard to tell when collections have been just thrown together.

As for the number of poems, anything upwards of 20 if they're only short (up to about 50 lines). For haiku, it's going to have to be a bit more

[Erthona]

A poetry collection is a collection of poems. Any structure is solely contingent upon the wishes of the organizer.
Poetry is not known for for well defined boundaries, however as in other areas collection is a very broadly defined term basically meaning "a group of". One can get more specific, such as "A Book of Light Verse", "An Anthology" or "The Collected Works of Dodadic Poetic Forms" (not a real thing, don't try and look it up). Usually if it is a collection of poems a title will describe a commonality held by the poems in the collection, just as a book will. Some titles may opt for a less literal title, such as, "Restless Rumi" (also not real). You get the idea though, a collection is what you want it to be, the title defines what is supposedly in the collection. A collection of poems is no different than any other collection.

Best,

dale

[shemthepenman]

Hi there! I have a basic question for the more experienced writers/ poets out there.
What really constitutes a "poetry collection"? I mean, do all the poems have to relate to one another? That is the most common kind I've seen.
 Or can it be kind of a greatest hits compilation? How many poems in typical collections (or pages...or line counts) I'm just trying to get an overview here...any advice is appreciated
Thanks!

being the most experienced and bestest poet ever, i can safely say that a collection of poems 'really' constitutes a poetry collection. one poem just won't cut it.

it is nice to have a theme, but not obligatory. in fact, personally, sometimes, in my more cynical moments, i think the whole themed poetry book is pandering to the dominance of the novel.

you can have a greatest hits collection, but this is for dead or well established poets. most poets don't really publish enough to warrant a greatest hits collection.

one can just throw everything they've written into a book, give it a title that kinda gives the impression of coherence, and that'll do. in a lot of cases, the style of the poet will serve for a theme. if you read, for example, tarantula by Bob Dylan, [if i remember correctly] it finishes each poem like a letter--yours flat hat McGuire, for exmple. this little style flourish is enough to give the sense of a cohesive whole--even though that particular book does have a soft narrative thread.

if you are going to throw all the poems you've ever written into a collection then maybe take some time to organise them properly, maybe even chronologically; and as long as you're any good, with a unique voice, it should be enough. i made the mistake, about a year ago, of sself-publishing a small collection of poems to sell, exclusively, at an art exhibition [i only printed about 20 copies] and just throwing together anything i had written, and realised it looked a bit of a mess, without any consistency. needless to say, i only sold about 5. and one of those was to someone i actually know.

NOTE: i am so slow at writing by the time i had published this comment Leanne and Dale had already said everything worth saying :/ curse you fast typers! damn you all to hell!

[Vanity]

A poetry collection is a collection of poems. Any structure is solely contingent upon the wishes of the organizer.
Poetry is not known for for well defined boundaries, however as in other areas collection is a very broadly defined term basically meaning "a group of". One can get more specific, such as "A Book of Light Verse", "An Anthology" or "The Collected Works of Dodadic Poetic Forms" (not a real thing, don't try and look it up). Usually if it is a collection of poems a title will describe a commonality held by the poems in the collection, just as a book will. Some titles may opt for a less literal title, such as, "Restless Rumi" (also not real). You get the idea though, a collection is what you want it to be, the title defines what is supposedly in the collection. A collection of poems is no different than any other collection.

Best,

dale

Thank you so much for the input, erthona! I have been thinking on this topic a lot....

---

I totally LOL-ed at your 'dead or established poets' line....
I appreciate your reply...I was given to understand that these collection had to have a 'theme' and my eyes crossed at the idea of having that much relate-y stuff...I mean, that's just not my style I guess. If I write something that reminds me of something else I did, uh, then I just stop fucking writing and toss it. But I wanted to hear some contemporary opionins...thanks very much!
You had me at 'bestest'--V :-)

Hi there! I have a basic question for the more experienced writers/ poets out there.
What really constitutes a "poetry collection"? I mean, do all the poems have to relate to one another? That is the most common kind I've seen.
 Or can it be kind of a greatest hits compilation? How many poems in typical collections (or pages...or line counts) I'm just trying to get an overview here...any advice is appreciated
Thanks!

being the most experienced and bestest poet ever, i can safely say that a collection of poems 'really' constitutes a poetry collection. one poem just won't cut it.

it is nice to have a theme, but not obligatory. in fact, personally, sometimes, in my more cynical moments, i think the whole themed poetry book is pandering to the dominance of the novel.

you can have a greatest hits collection, but this is for dead or well established poets. most poets don't really publish enough to warrant a greatest hits collection.

one can just throw everything they've written into a book, give it a title that kinda gives the impression of coherence, and that'll do. in a lot of cases, the style of the poet will serve for a theme. if you read, for example, tarantula by Bob Dylan, [if i remember correctly] it finishes each poem like a letter--yours flat hat McGuire, for exmple. this little style flourish is enough to give the sense of a cohesive whole--even though that particular book does have a soft narrative thread.

if you are going to throw all the poems you've ever written into a collection then maybe take some time to organise them properly, maybe even chronologically; and as long as you're any good, with a unique voice, it should be enough. i made the mistake, about a year ago, of sself-publishing a small collection of poems to sell, exclusively, at an art exhibition [i only printed about 20 copies] and just throwing together anything i had written, and realised it looked a bit of a mess, without any consistency. needless to say, i only sold about 5. and one of those was to someone i actually know.

NOTE: i am so slow at writing by the time i had published this comment Leanne and Dale had already said everything worth saying :/ curse you fast typers! damn you all to hell!

---

Thank you all for the replies...I like your thoughts on organization Shem...
I keep playing around with it.