Building a Poetry Community
On Being a Writer Chapter 7: Promote
I’m reading through On Being a Writer by Ann Kroeker and Charity Singleton Craig this summer and chapter 7 is about the big and little ways we promote our work.
I had the great good pleasure of attending a Lunch + Learn lecture by presented by the poet Radha Macrum. The lecture was about receiving useful feedback on your poems or manuscript. The topic of paying for feedback via a class or coaching came up, and one of the attendees said something that really struck a chord.
She said that it’s good to pay poets for their time and attention. But in a larger sense, that money really supports and promotes the entire poetry community. That writer is going to use the money to write poems, buy poetry books, attend conferences.
And that’s really borne out here on Substack. I have a hand full of paid subscribers, and I use that money to pour into my ongoing education and work as a poet. Earlier this year I went on a one day writing retreat funded by subscribers. This month I’m joining my state poetry association. That means I can submit my chapbooks to the Oregon Poetry Collection, an archive of books by Oregon writers.
The sweet patronage I receive from paid subscribers ripples out. Thank you so much.
Linking to the good things we discover is an excellent way of being a vital part of the poetry community. I love how Fritz shares new poems + publication news. And the way Ann captures the heart of the each microseason.
What’s caught your eye on this full plum moon?
Speaking of microsesons...have you read this book: Light Rains Sometimes Fall by Lev Parikian? The subheading is A British Year Through Japan's 72 Seasons. It's lovely!
I love to see you reinvesting in your art Kortney— what a healthy way to grow! I treated myself to an online poetry class this summer and gleaned, some helpful insight that changed the way I think about poetry. Specifically, I learned to respect poetry “fragments”—those wonderful phrases, bits and pieces that come to you but that aren’t yet ready to become a full poem. In the class, we collected them into a book which was a beautiful practice that I plan on continuing.