"Remember, the literary world is as much about community as it is about the solitary and we must keep building each other up!"
- dimitrireyespoet.com
Believe it or not, there were many times throughout history where poets were able to live off of their poetry and they were not the starving artists you may be thinking of.
For as long as poetry existed it has done so in two facets; within the self and within it’s public. With what had started as sung lyrics passed down through the oral tradition, poetry evolved into poems that were eventually written down so others who were literate could read, share, and experience the words for themselves. As the centuries passed others continued to write poems and more people began to read. According to the NEA’s 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, about 28 million have read poetry sometime throughout that year.
Even with this information, many still argue that poetry is a dying art or that poetry is dead. Book sales for poetry are dismal. You can stop plenty of people on a walk and ask them to name a poet whose published in the past 5 years and they probably won’t have an answer. But social media has been helping poetry bounce back. With so many poets also acting as their own social media brand, they’re reviving poetry to where it is at its purest state: highlighting the human condition.
So with those who have access to poetry and the many others who don’t, how can you be a poet that reaches poetry appreciators? You have to be the active poet. Despite spending your own time with an intrinsic art form such as poetry, it gives you an edge to be involved within artist communities, and the public. This is a good suggestion if you are looking to make a living from being a poet.
These are 10 Easy Tips for Being an Active Poet
1) Make a Submittable Account
I suggest anyone that is creating art or writing poetry, fiction, non-fiction, creative non-fiction, short stories, novellas, comics, zines, fan-fiction, or anything else to create a Submittable account. It’s a free platform that gives you access to submit to literary presses, magazines, and other organizations. They also have scholarship, grant, fellowship, and residency opportunities.
If you don’t know where to begin submitting, you can subscribe to Submittable after signing up and they send you a brief list of open calls and articles every week. There is also a “Discover” tab where you can type tags into their search engine to look for specific calls/ opportunities.
2) Attend Workshops
They are significant to the poet that is looking to grow their talent. Attending workshops puts you in a setting with other individuals who are speaking the same language of poetry, something that you may not be used to in other spheres of your life. There are many other reasons to take a workshop and you can read more about it here: 6 Reasons YOU NEED TO ATTEND a Poetry Workshop.
Every time I go to a workshop there’s always a great take away— whether it’s a generative assignment or a wealth of information. If I’m lucky, there is a new point of view or a poem or two that is birthed out of that experience.
3) Attend & Participate in Open Mics
If you are in a large metropolitan area you have lucked out because there’s usually a lot of open mics. Try to find these, they’re great to go to and are usually multi art faceted so you’ll get painters, musicians, rappers, spoken word artists, people who are reading literature, and people who are reading poetry. It’s a good idea to perform at open mics for many reasons, but the most important reasons are to hear your poems out loud and see how others respond to your work.
4) Volunteer
There are many ways to be active in a poetry community besides performing and publishing. If you can spare the time, I encourage you to get involved behind the scenes with open mics and other poetry events in your area. With events ranging from open mics to other things like reading series’ and festivals, organizers are often in need of extra assistance. Usually, events such as these are from non- profit organizations or small artist organizations and they can only afford to hire just a few staff members. In turn, they seek help from volunteers for larger events.
If you volunteer you’ll be working closely with the staff and assisting the performers. These individuals would be good people to network with and could possibly connect you to different artists and opportunities. This is usually how I get around, too!
5) Attend Expos, Conferences, Conventions, & Book Fairs
These are awesome to attend as a writer as well as an appreciator of literature. Most of these festivals have several different lectures or discussions going on at the same time and there are also opportunities to meet with different agents and/ or presses depending on which conference you attend. If you search “book and literary festivals” or “poetry conferences” in your seach engine, you’ll be sure to find one within, around, or in driving distance to your location. One of the biggest conferences in the US is AWP for example, which changes its location every year. With a bit of research you’ll also notice that some of these will be free, while others you’d have to pay for.
6) Join Groups
Being in a writer’s group is a great way to stay on task and everyone can keep each other accountable. You can get together with a group of friends to share poems and critique each other’s writing. If you are in college you can create a flyer to try to get a writing group together. The more ambitious folks try to join a writer’s group on Meetup.com or Craigslist. to find a writers group.
Don’t like these options? Join my creative writing group on Patreon!
7) Seek Programs/ Organizations
You can choose to seek poetry as higher education. Some fellowships you can apply to will take you in as a permanent part of their community. These communities function as institutions within the literary world such as Cave Canem, Kundiman, and Canto Mundo. They are a great support system and their name carries weight around the writer world. You can apply to different fellowships, different communities.
You have workshops, you laugh, eat, write all day and night, but most importantly, you form great relationships. It’s like a summer camp for poets! To learn more about these organizations, click on the pictures below.
8) Brand Yourself on Social Media
As mentioned in the intro, social media is becoming a big deal for poets. It comes down to your personal brand; being consistent in your art. Having your social media page act as your portfolio will help you gain and maintain a following. This is also how you can meet other artists around the world.
Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are the usual platforms I use, but I’ve recently had many YouTube subscribers talk about publishing their work on Wattpad.
9) Vlog or Blog
You can choose to blog or vlog about your experiences as a writer. This can include videos that feature you performing or reading your work, talking about books, talking with other poets, creating books, or anything else you can think of.
Just be aware of some of the practices with publishing if you decide to recite or put your poems up online. You can choose to though many writers are wary of doing so because if you are not careful, your work can be considered published then it won’t have the chance to be published elsewhere. This is a very gray area that could be tackled in another blog.
10) Lead by Example
Is there not a consistent open mic in your area? Is there not a writer’s group? No workshops? Then talk to a few owners at local venues and make one yourself!
Many public institutions including libraries, schools, art galleries and art studios, are always good places to start. After you have a place, start soliciting people to come to your event or writer’s group. Remember, the literary world is as much about community as it is about the solitary and we must keep building each other up!
Feel free to reach me on my Contact Me page if you need guidance with your community organizing!
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