Keith Flynn 

Keith Flynn (www.keithflynn.net) is the award-winning author of seven books, including five collections of poetry: The Talking Drum (1991), The Book of Monsters (1994), The Lost Sea (2000), The Golden Ratio (2007), Colony Collapse Disorder (2013), and a collection of essays, entitled The Rhythm Method, Razzmatazz, and Memory: How to Make Your Poetry Swing (Writer's Digest Books, 2007; reprinted by Press 53, 2019). His latest book is a collaboration with photographer Charter Weeks, entitled Prosperity Gospel: Portraits of the Great Recession. From 1984–1999, he was lyricist and lead singer for the nationally acclaimed rock band, The Crystal Zoo, which produced three albums: Swimming Through Lake Eerie (1992), Pouch (1996), and the spoken-word and music compilation, Nervous Splendor (2003). He is currently touring with a supporting combo, The Holy Men, whose album, LIVE at Diana Wortham Theatre, was released in 2011. His award-winning poetry and essays have appeared in many journals and anthologies around the world, including The American Literary Review, The Colorado Review, Poetry Wales, The Cuirt Journal (Ireland), Five Points, Poetry East, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Margie, The Cimarron Review, Rattle, Shenandoah, Word and Witness: 100 Years of North Carolina Poetry, Crazyhorse, and many others. He has been awarded the Sandburg Prize for poetry, a 2013 North Carolina Literary Fellowship, the ASCAP Emerging Songwriter Prize, the Paumanok Poetry Award, and was twice named the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for North Carolina. Flynn is founder and managing editor of The Asheville Poetry Review, which began publishing in 1994.

About The Rhythm Method, Razzamatazz, and Memory

Poetry and music have long been active bedfellows and in some cases it can be nearly impossible to separate the two. Whether dissecting Beatles lyrics or tapping out the beat to a Shakespeare soliloquy, the essence of poetry begins in rhyme and rhythm. Award-winning poet Keith Flynn understands this better than anyone. Combining a survey of the history of poetry with lessons for making all of your words swing the way they should, The Rhythm Method, Razzamatazz, and Memory is the ultimate learning tool for poets who want to find their perfect melody.

Flynn shows you how to tap into the music in your head and make your poetry dance along. Focusing on the stages of poetry, Flynn helps you build rhythm from the ground up, and explores the development of modern poetry at the same time, making sure that all the influences that made poetry great as a whole are also influencing your work.

From Sylvia Plath to hip hop and poetry slams, he examines the growth of poetry and music while simultaneously delivering expert advice on form, description, influence, and most importantly, sound. Flynn reveals how to create poetry that begs to be read aloud, poetry that resonates in the air, the imperative need for a poet to deeply listen to his or her inner voice. The Rhythm Method, Razzamatazz, and Memory will make sure your voice keeps up and keeps time.