Books
Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Poetic Closure: A Study of How Poems End. University of Chicago Press, 1968.
Machado, Aditi, The End. Ugly Duckling Presse, 2020.
Chapters and Essays
Lyn Hejinian. “The Rejection of Closure.” PoetryFoundation.org, Poetry Foundation, September 8, 2014. Originally published in 1984 and reprinted from The Language of Inquiry.
Stephen Dobyns. “line breaks.” Next Word, Better Word: The Craft of Writing Poetry. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011, pp. 89-110.
Joy Katz. “Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye: Notes on the Ends of Poems.” The Monkey & the Wrench: Essays into Contemporary Poetics. Edited by Mary Biddinger and John Gallaher. University of Akron Press, 2011, pp. 154-165.
Lawrence Raab, “Uncertain Clarity: Some Ways Poems End,” Mentor & Muse. September 17, 2023.
Nick Ripatrazone, “In Praise of Poems That End with Questions,” The Millions. May 9, 2019.
Interviews
“Interview with K. Iver.” Interview by Mentor & Muse Editors. Mentor & Muse. September 17, 2023.
“Interview with James Davis May.” Interview by Mentor & Muse Editors. Mentor & Muse. September 17, 2023.
“Interview with Orlando Ricardo Menes.” Interview by Mentor & Muse Editors. Mentor & Muse. September 17, 2023.
“Interview with Alina Stefanescu.” Interview by Mentor & Muse Editors. Mentor & Muse. September 17, 2023.
Audio & Video
Stephen Dobyns, “Poetic Closure,” Warren Wilson College Craft Lecture, July 2009. Audio.
Laura Kasischke, “The End: A Lecture,” Warren Wilson College Craft Lecture, July 2004. Audio.
Blogs
Cincinnati Review. “Trapdoors & Lit Fuses: How We End Our Poems.” The Cincinnati Review. October 27, 2022.
Alina Stefanescu, “21 ways to end a poem or leave your lover.” October 24, 2020.
We’d love to expand our reading list on poetic closure. Please post your suggestions in our comments section below!