Concern With Craft

Abstract

This article contends with the question “what is good poetry?” The author argues that those interested in poetry as a means to represent research must be aware of poetic traditions and techniques and engage critically in a discussion of how an understanding of poetry informs their work. One means by which to accomplish this is through the use of ars poetica(art of poetry). The author presents a discussion of the function and utility of ars poetica for poetic craft, means of articulating one's own ars poetica, examples of some poets' conceptualizations of poetry, and the implications of ars poetica as artistic criteria. In addition, the author demonstrates how three versions of her own ars poetica written at different times may be used as criteria for assessing research poetry.