Book excerpt: Compiled from the workshop assignments of Ottone M. Riccio, a master teacher, Unlocking the Poem is a teaching tool, a stimulus to individual creative expression, and a compendium of outstanding contemporary poetry written from these very assignments--all in all, a book that deserves a place on every poet's shelf, according to the esteemed poet X.J. Kennedy. Unlike many how to write poetry texts, Unlocking the Poem teaches by doing. Its assignments offer writers, new and experienced, the chance to try new things, to practice their craft--and to produce their own original, polished poems in the process. Unlocking the Poem offers 450 proven assignments--more than any other work available--based on poetic form, subject matter, the use of specific words or lines, time for writing, and so forth. The collection contains assignments to elicit autobiographical experience, moods, and the realms of fact and fantasy. These assignments provide stimuli to get the creative process underway, with subjects ranging from the everyday to the surreal, from people to the natural world, from the works of man to history to investigating language. Unlocking the Poem is organized so that related material comes together, readily findable. Turn to a given section villanelles, for example, or surreal experience or browse until something strikes your interest. Assignments are adaptable to beginners and to advanced writers; there's plenty in here for every poet. Unlocking the Poem belongs in the library of every writing student who wants to be a poet, and every poet who wants to write more and better poems.