Creating a Community

From the earliest steps in my life as a poet, I learned that poets and poetry is a community. Much like other writers, poets are forever connected by their desire to paint images across as many pages as they can. Lovers of poetry feel an automatic connection to this writing community every time they read a poem. For me, feeling apart of the poetry world, and to a larger extent, the writing world, I need to do a little more activity than reading and writing. I need to go out and see it happening, in which ever way I can. If you agree with me, and aren't sure where to start, here is some basic information for you.


My personal mission in life is to seek out any live performance of poetry and go see it. After all, poetry started as a spoken art and should continue its life as one as well. So I say, look for events in your area that will build that person-to-person community of poets and authors. One way is to simply go to your neighborhood coffee houses Open Mic. Keep your eyes open.

Get involved by going to more scheduled events in your area. A good place to do this is to search for poetry organizations or groups on www.poetry.org

Here is a link to a list of a few events sponsored by the Poetry Society of America

Poetry on the Radio
Weekend America
Prosody WYEP-FM 91.3

Out in the Greater Pittsburgh Community: I will be posting new events I come across every Wednesday. Please e-mail me at jessnoteeth@gmail.com if you have an event you’d like me to mention.

Friday June 26

Nightglow Poetry Series
Hosted by Brian Francis
New Hazlett Theater
Allegheny Sq East Pittsburgh, PA (North side)
10:30pm - $3 - (412)320-4610

Saturday June 27

Susan Gregg Gilmore Signing
Discussing and signing "Looking for Salvation at the Dairy
Queen" (Random House Books)
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
2705 E Carson St Pittsburgh, PA (Southside)
2:00pm - free - (412) 381-3600

Tuesday June 30th
Jay Carson, Joseph Karasek, Richard St. John, Judith R. Robinson.
Hemingway's. 8 pm. Free.
Sponsored by the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange

Fun Links
Go to Allen Tingley’s new multi-media conglomeration, DIGESTED


As a side note, this is a site on the Internet, much like this one, but it is extremely interactive. Monkey tapping is a site for lovers of Haiku