How to Be a Poet

The Roman poet Ovid's The Art of Love instructed women on the "art" of seduction and men in the "art" of romantic conquest. It is a "classic" sexist text on men, women, love, and sex.

In her second book of erasures, JM Farkas takes on Ovid's Ars Amatoria, or "The Art of Love." In her signature feminist, revisionist twist, Farkas speaks to emerging "girl" poets. How to Be a Poet is not only for writers, but for anyone who wants to create beauty in the world. In addition to the erasure, How to Be a Poet includes a second version of the poem in a style that leaves the original text visible for readers who want to read the scandalous source material.

avenge your mother. invent
a girl with a reckless heart.
free her in her tower. be a thief,
snatch time, every time you write...