For poets who want poetry to be
more:
more than a hobby | more of a gift for others
more creatively independent | more communal
Welcome to the space
for professional poet
development
Need an event space? Help with audio/video production? Guidance on taking your art professionally? More information on the Poet Business Institute?
Come visit us at the Stanza, Columbus's first and only poetry venue
What is the Poet Business Institute
(3 Keys):
1) Create Your Poetry Thesis Together With Poets In Class
A workshop. A book. A meetup. A card. A coffee cup sleeve.
A painting. A sweatshirt. A forum. A phone call. A calendar.
Your poetry thesis is your belief that your art has an ability to create the very change that people desire for themselves.
Through 10 weeks, work alongside poets through weekly virtual and in-person sessions towards a poetry thesis you can offer to the world that demonstrates your expertise, caters to a real need, and pays you financially and creatively.
Exercises from The Semester workbook are completed and discussed together during sessions, with access to resources on the Institute forum to supplement coursework.
Virtual
Thursdays 7:00-8:00PM EST
Classroom Links In The Forum
In-Person
Mondays 6:30-7:30PM
The Stanza
Class Schedule
Institute Members Are Welcome To Attend Classes:
2) Access Poetry & Business Resources On The Forum
For supplemental materials, peer review of poems, correspondence with cohort members, and access to virtual classrooms.
3) Headshots. Event Venue. Audio/Video. Poem Recording. Professional Resources.
Professional development for poets is a major component of the Institute, even beyond the coursework.
Therefore, Institute members have access to weekly poem recording and headshots to better allow themselves to enter the world on their terms.
Institute members also can receive discounts on using The Stanza as an event space for their own original endeavors, even receiving help with organizing from diVERSES.
To Recap:
Institute Members Receive:
The Poet Business Institute
launches August 3rd.
Want updates and the special $40/month rate for the first members to join?
Complete the waitlist form
and see you in class soon!
What is the
Semester Workbook:
The Semester
The Workbook On The Art Of Living On The Art
Paperback & Cohorts Forthcoming
Order The Digital PDF Workbook At The 50% Discount Through July 15th
Author: Poet Geoff Anderson
An art business is the most altruistic form of art.
All Purchases Final | No Refunds
What's In The Book?
If you are a poet or practitioner of another artistic discipline,
there may be a question buried in the back of your mind:
is it possible to live on art?
The answer may be yes, and it may be yes
without compromise, without corruption,
with compassion, and with creativity.
The Semester is a guide to creating your new poetry thesis
96 pages of exercises, questions, planning, and frameworks
to build an offer--your poetry thesis--and a platform
on social media, a website, or wherever you wish
to use your poetry in the service of others.
LIVE
ON
POETRY
What This Is Not
If you want to live on your poetry or other art tomorrow, this is not the approach.
To create our poetry thesis in a sustainable way, we will create not only a poetry thesis
-- what you offer to the world -- but an entire platform. This takes time; we are thinking months to years ahead, not days. If you are averse to social media or content creation (you will need to choose either blog/articles/writing, videos, podcasts, or photos for your platform), this is not the textbook for you.
What This Is
A roadmap to go from having work that is invisible to having a platform people turn to for a specific goal. This is especially suited for artists who have had the idea of being independent with their art -- escaping from Corporate Poetry -- but have been unsure of the first step to take.
96 Pages / 10 Modules / 41 Exercises
Module 1: Determine The Focus
Module 2: Prepare The Focus
Module 3: Know Who You Help
Module 4: Assess The Quality
Module 5: Messaging
Module 6: The Poetry Thesis
Module 7: Getting The Word Out
Module 8: Polishing Production
Module 9: Collaboration
Module 10: Booking
All Based On Author
Poet Geoff Anderson's
Experience Teaching
Communication
Through Poetry
My name is Geoff Anderson. I am a poet who had a chapbook twice rejected as a finalist over a few months by the same judge.
The rejections were among the best events to happen to me. I suddenly woke up.
I questioned why I gave away the future of my art to people who know nothing about the work’s goals and intentions. Since then, I have decided to show up in all spaces as a poet, whether I am teaching, or parenting, or in the company of friends, or with poets.
This has meant that it is necessary for me to create a livelihood from poetry. I am proud to say that over a third of the communication classes I teach are using poetry as base material. Even today, when I tell people I help poets live on poetry, I am met with skepticism. The narrative around most artists is that the art is for the side.
Yet for me, poetry is a vehicle for guiding my students to better communication and spoken performance. I found my art
not solely fulfilling for my own creativity, but the lives of others, and how to do so without compromise.
This is less to say that your path will look like mine, and more that there are many paths towards creative and financial independence.
This manual is for poets who not only believe in the creative force of poetry, but also its financial force. The exercises we are set to embark on can be applied to small side offers that cover groceries for a month. However, the principles can scale to become large enough to replace full-time work. We will consider the offer you create around poetry to be the thesis of the Semester.
Let’s begin to live on poetry, however you want to live on poetry.