Chapbook versus Full Length

If you were going to publish one last collection of poetry before you died–what would it be? A chapbook, usually less than forty pages, is informal. It has an ephemeral quality, maybe the sense of still being in process. It is a bit open-ended, as if there might still be more to come.
A book of poetry feels more complete, perhaps more assertive. It summarizes.
Poets–and editors–put a lot of effort into ordering a book. But readers may thumb through (even virtually) and read at random.
As to theme–I frankly tend to prefer strict theme at chapbook rather than book length. Theme as a necessity of arrangement came in mid-way in my career. I’ve certainly done it, and enjoyed it in others. But I like a full-length book that sprawls a bit.
Some poets like a Collected. That certainly is impressive, even scholarly. Some consider that too rigid (and collecteds tend to not sell well). I like a Selected myself–both for the greats and for the contemporary. If I want more, I’ll look further.
All this said, as a reader, I’ll take what I can get from poets I love. The serious collection, the off-the-cuff micro chap.
I had a real life discussion about this with a literary executor. It got me thinking. Given my current preoccupations, I’d probably like my last poems to be installed on a walking path, or written in sand, or given to the wind.
And you?

This entry was posted in Uncategorized by Miriam Sagan. Bookmark the permalink.

About Miriam Sagan

I'm blogging about poetry, land art, haiku, women artists, road trips, and Baba Yaga at Miriam's Well (https://miriamswell.wordpress.com). The well is ALWAYS looking to publish poetry on our themes, sudden fiction, and guest bloggers and musers.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s