#BlogTour The Point of Poetry by Joe Nutt

Today it really is a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Point of Poetry by Joe Nutt. Nutt has created a work of beauty in his own right. Full of love and passion for poetry.

About the Author 
Joe Nutt is a former teacher with twenty years of English teaching experience. He has written books on Shakespeare, John Donne and most recently a guidebook to Paradise Lost for one of the world's foremost academic publishers. he is now one of the leading educationalists in the UK and writes a fortnightly column for the Times Educational Supplement.

Follow @joenutt_author @unbounders on Twitter,
Buy The Point of Poetry

About the book
What's the point of poetry? It's a question asked in classrooms all over the world, but it rarely receives a satisfactory answer. Which is why so many people, who read all kinds of books, never read poetry after school.

Exploring twenty-two works from poets as varied as William Blake, Seamus Heaney, Rita Dove and Hollie McNish, this book makes the case for what poetry has to offer us, what it can tell us about the things that matter in life. Each poem is discussed with humour and refreshing clarity, using a mixture of anecdote and literary criticism that has been honed love a lifetime of teaching.

Poetry can enrich lives, if we'll let it. The Point of Poetry is the perfect companion for anyone looking to discover how.

Review
This is the kind of book I would buy to help non-poetry lovers understand the attraction and potency of it. As a poetry lover myself I embrace anything, which could possibly encourage others to delve into it and find a little bit of beauty too.

There are some things in life that have an innate beauty, even when they are born from the pen, paintbrush or voice of a human being. Times when colours, words or sounds create a moment in time that calls to the soul and tugs at the passion inside of us. One can experience the same thing when the elements create a similar kind of beauty in nature or beauty that inspires the same visceral reaction.. Breathtaking scenery for instance.

Let's focus on the man- or woman-made moments of beauty. Psychologists have studied what makes people cry when they hear music for instance, and have recognised certain personality attributes in them. Those who cried because they feel sadness scored high on the neuroticism scale and those who scored high in the openness to experience scale cried because they felt a profound sense of awe.

Awe at the capacity of a person to create such beauty that it elicits an extreme emotional response. I have those moments with poetry, music (especially classical and operatic music), art and very beautifully written books.

The author is keen to have poetry stand aside from the other contenders and have its own pedestal. This book is all about 'lighting the touchpaper.' I could have happily quoted from this book over and over again by the way. Nutt is a passionate educationalist, the kind of teacher who seeks out those who are inspired by and comprehend the beauty of poetry, and simultaneously those who fear and reject it.

Luckily the author also has a way with words. A book about the point of poetry could be dry, boring and terribly academic. Could be, but it isn't. Nutt has created a work of beauty in his own right. Full of love and passion for poetry.

I love this book.

Buy The Point of Poetry at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Unbound pub date 21 Mar. 2019. Buy Ecopy here. Buy at Amazon com.