Taking inspiration from sources like news articles, photographs, medical records, and more, "documentary poems combine primary source material with poetry writing." Poetry River, a site dedicated to open-access poetry and related resources, engages this exciting poetic genre in their Documentary Poetry section. This section begins with a brief overview of the origins and characteristics of documentary poetry (also called docupoetry), then goes on to offer readers a docupoetry sampler, with links to text, audio, or video versions of example poems. The site also lists contemporary poets who create docupoetry, linking to these poets' websites and examples of their poetry. Those interested in conducting their own documentary poetry workshops will find helpful materials, which discuss topics like sourcing and citation in docupoetry, available for download in PDF form. For further guidance on sourcing, select the Sources subsection from the Docupoetry tab at the top of the website. Poetry River is curated by Wendy DeGroat, a librarian, writing instructor, and poet.
Comments