how do i find a poem with just the authors name?

[loopyc]

my dad wrote a poem about a lizard in the sixties which was published in a book of poems this is all i no about it but would love to get a copy as a surprise for my dad, but as its a suprise i cant ask my dad about it. where do i start?

[mkt]

i assume you've tried to Google your dads name?

hmm this could be difficult if you dont know the name of the poem or who published it. Is there no way you can ask him some subtle questions to try to get some more info.....

sounds like a lovely idea trying to get hold of it for him...i hope you manage it.

[Kozmic Blues]

Could you tell your dads first or surname not both.
im doing a search.

kozmic

[loopyc]

hi kozmic dads name is brian barks, thank you for your help.

[Kozmic Blues]

Sorry no look.hope you are able to find it.

Not Coelman bryan barks.haha :)
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article Printable.jsp?id=h-1251

lol kozmic

[Kingaroo]

Would any of his other relatives be able to steer you right? Even knowing the year would help. You could go to a registry of published books (in the US the library of congress) and look for poetry anthologies published each year.

This would work if it is a "real" book by a "real" publisher. But not if it's the kind of book I had a story "published" in -- a bookstore chain had a contest and published the winners in its own little self-published flimsy paperback anthology. It was a big deal to my family, but a small one-time press run and no one would ever be able to track down a copy now, 13 years later, even knowing the name of the store.

Good luck!

[wonder years]

it sounds just like that advert on tv for yellow pages were the womans father wrote a book about fly fishing or a flying machine by j r hartley they looked for list of old book shops and visted them and enventually found it good luck with your search

[loopyc]

thanks everyone x