I’ll be adding books as time passes, some with comments, some without. Listed are books of essays by writers, artists, poets, books about the creative process, as well as biographies and autobiographies. Feel free to send in your favorites. If you are interested in purchasing any of these books you can click on Powell’s Books.
Books with * I recommend.  Books with ** are favorites of mine.

**In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet’s Portable Workshop by Steve Kowit
**Nine Gates: Essays by Jane Hirshfield.
**Poetry as Survival by Gregory Orr.
**The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden by Stanley Kunitz with Genine Lentine
**Walking Light: Essays and Memoirs by Stephen Dunn.
**Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry by John Frederick Nims & David Mason.
*Crossing Unmarked Snow: Further Views on the Writer’s Vocation by William Stafford Edited by Paul Merchant & Vincent Wixon
*Letters to a Young Poet: Rainier Maria Rilke
*Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry by Kenneth Koch
*The Discovery of Poetry: A Field Guide to Reading and Writing Poems by Frances Mayer
*The Making of a Poem:  A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland
*The Triggering Town:  Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing by Richard Hugo.
*Writing Poems: Michelle Boisseau & Robert Wallace.
A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry by Mary Oliver
Best Words, Best Order: Essays on Poetry by Stephen Dobyns.
Coming of Age as a Poet: Milton, Keats, Eliot, Plath by Helen Vendler
Creating Poetry: How to begin a poem, use word combinations and new forms, apply the lessons from master poets to individual poems, choose and use images and words carefully, and much more by John Drury
Fooling With Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft Interviews with Bill Moyers
Giving Their Word: Conversations with Contemporary Poets. Edited by Steven Ratiner.
How to Read a Poem: and fall in love with poetry by Edward Hirsch
Long Life: Essays and Other Writings by Mary Oliver
Patterns of Poetry:  An Encyclopedia of Forms by Miller Williams.
Poetry and Consciousness: Poets on Poetry Series by C. K. Williams
Poetry as Persuasion by Carl Dennis
The Eye of the Poet: Six Views of the Art and Craft of Poetry. Edited by David Citino
The Flexible Lyric by Ellen Bryant Voight.
The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry by Kim Addonizio & Dorianne Laux
The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach Edited by Robin Behn & Chase Twichell
The Resistance to Poetry by James Longenbach.
The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide by Robert Pinsky.
Twentieth Century Pleasures: Prose on Poetry by Robert Hass.