An Invisible Poets roadshow near you?

I mentioned on Live Poets Society UK recently that I was considering the possibility of taking Invisible Poets on the road. By that, I meant bringing a live poetry show with performances, interviews, book launch, open mic etc to a place near you. It's a grand ambition and quite daunting but not one that is impossible. I would need local organisers who were willing to commit to doing some local organisation, promotion and other preparation to make an event happen in their home town. So what would be involved? Putting on a roadshow can be complex, and work needs to go into organising, but there are some tried and tested formulae. 

Here are a few ideas and a checklist of things that would need to be in place to stage a successful Invisible Poets event in your home town.

1) We would need a secure venue. It doesn't need to be a massive space, just a place which is lockable, and where we can set up a small performance area, possibly with staging (not essential), and a power supply (required). Wheelsong Books would provide the public address system and lighting rig. Easy chairs for interviews would be required, depending on which poets are being interviewed. 

2) A table somewhere in the venue to display books and merchandising. Wheelsong would supply the materials for display, the merchandise and the paying facilities.

3) Publicity and promotion of the event. Wheelsong Books would publicise through social media, but it would also be up to the local organisers to put the word out that the event was happening, and to do this at least 4 weeks in advance of the event. 

4) Accommodation near to the venue if the host/MC/invited poets required overnight accommodation depending on the travel distances. 

Wheelsong Books would sponsor the event, and that would mean there would be a small ticket price which might also include free merchandise from the book stand. Ticketing would be managed by Wheelsong Books, through an electronic ticketing service, or pay on the door. 

The essential Invisible Poets Roadshow might include the following elements:

a) Headline performances by invited/guest poets

b) Performance by the host/MC

c) Interviews and question/answer sessions

d) Open Mic session

e) Specialist writing workshops (for all day or half day events)

f) Book launches and signings

g) Meet and greet sessions with authors

h) Social event

So who is up for organising an event, either somewhere in the UK (we can do these fairly easily) or farther afield? Please respond in the comments section beneath this post, or email wheelsong6@gmail.com to discuss this idea in more detail. 

Steve Wheeler

Image Copyright by Steve Wheeler, 2025

P.S. The first event is currently being organised in Derby, England, for Friday 30th May 2025. We aim to raise as much money we can for Save the Children, so please do come along if you can and support this event!

Images and Image

Several members of Invisible Poets showed their nastier side recently. They are all off looking for another poetry group now. 

My post about use of images, poets' over-reliance on their use, and the dangers of using copyrighted images went down like a stone balloon with some members. Perhaps I touched a nerve. I was called arrogant, narrow minded and a few other choice epithets. One even asked me who had made me 'the poetry police.' 

These are of course, all what we call ad hominem attacks in the philosophy world. Or in sporting terms... they were playing the man rather than playing the ball. I love a good debate, but when it comes to personal abuse, I don't tolerate it. Invisible Poets is founded on respect and care, and these individuals crossed the line. 

My points were twofold. 

Firstly I questioned the reason why some poets felt compelled to add images to their poetry (some are repeated selfies and other even less relevant, but spectacular images) when in fact good poetry has the capability to entrance with its words alone. In the words of one of our members, many images seem like click-bait. Other members said they scroll past the images because it puts them off reading those poems. 

My second point, perhaps even more importantly, was that many poets in the group are using copyrighted images. They clearly haven't checked to see if they can use them, and in doing so they run the risk of a lawsuit by the owners of the copyright. One person even remarked to me about 'my purist views'. I replied that they are actually legal views.

Let me make it clear. There are legal consequences. 

You should assume that nothing on the Internet is free-to-use unless it is clearly labelled as such. Most images, photographs, artwork etc are the property of someone. There have been several recent court cases where individuals have been sued successfully by the likes of Getty Images and the New York Times. The damages awarded are not small. If you use images without permission, or simply purloin them without thinking, you could be in serious trouble. It is not good enough to post an image and then state: Credit to the rightful owner or similar. This not only demonstrates that the poet has no idea where the image came from, it also shows their ignorance and laziness. Worse, it shows that they really don't care at all about their theft of someone else's property. 

I was trying to convey this warning to our members, but several were abusive to me. They didn't want to be told by anyone how they should behave online. This kind of incident certainly causes the bad ones to show their true colours. 

Here's some good news. There are plenty of sites where you can obtain and freely use images, photographs and graphics. Unsplash and Pix4free are very good sites to use for non-copyrighted materials. Another way to find free to use images is by using Google search and selecting Images. Next go to Tools, and select Usages Rights. Find Creative Commons Licenses and then you can check the free-for-use licences of images available. 

Finally, let me repeat it here for anyone who cares to listen: If you must use images, please make sure a) you own them yourself b) they are licensed for free use, or c) you have permission from the owner of the image. 

Steve Wheeler

Image used under a Creative Commons Licence

 

Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 6

Do you want to be a part of something really great? Something that is far more than just poetry? Something that will leave a lasting legacy and do some good in the world? We are about to publish the latest anthology in our charity series. It's number 6 in the series in our efforts to make lives better for underprivileged children around the world.

Wheelsong Books was established in the UK in 2020 as a not-for-profit organisation. Its mission statement is twofold: To give emerging poets the means to reach larger audiences and to help those who are in need. Since then, Wheelsong Books has published more than 50 books including ten charity poetry anthologies. Here are some of our anthology statistics: 

Absolutely Poetry Anthology 1: 170 poems 

Absolutely Poetry Anthology 2: 176 poems 

Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 1: 183 poems 

Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 2: 214 poems 

Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 3: 229 poems

Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 4: 245 poems

Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 5: 248 poems

Invisible Poets Anthology 1: 352 poems

Invisible Poets Anthology 2: 242 poems

Invisible Poets Anthology 3: 246 poems

(This is a total of 2,305 poems written by more than 650 poets representing 112 countries across all 6 continents) 

All the above books are still available on Amazon and through other online outlets, including Waterstones (UK) and Barnes & Noble (USA). The proceeds from Amazon sales of these books is donated directly to Save the Children - a worldwide charity that cares for children in crisis, providing emergency nutrition, health care, medicine, safety and education. At the time of writing, Wheelsong Books has donated £8,350.00 ($11,000.00) to Save the Children and we are not done yet! At the end of October 2025 we plan to publish Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 7.

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Dear poet, here is the bottom line... You have been given an amazing creative gift ... your ability to capture your thoughts, ideas, memories and emotions and present them as beautiful, evocative words. 

You can, if you want to join us, use your wonderful talent to freely give back a little to children who are in desperate, often life-threatening situations. 

We all want our poetry to be read and appreciated by others. Publishing your work in Wheelsong Poetry Anthology 6 will ensure that you gain a new audience for your poetry, but that's not the most important aim! 

Better than that is this ... your poems will be helping to raise much needed funds to support children in crisis. You will also retain ownership of your poem, and Wheelsong Books will protect and administer your copyright for you. 

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To be considered for inclusion in the review process you will need to follow these instructions very carefully:

Firstly, do not bother to submit your poetry if you do not intend to buy at least one copy of the book. We will expect you to pledge to buy at least one copy direct from Wheelsong Books if your work is published. This is a charity publication, and all profits from Amazon sales will go to help children in crisis. If you're not prepared to invest in helping children, we won't be publishing your poetry (we are dismayed that around two thirds of featured poets do not purchase a copy of the anthologies once they have been published). Please give more than you take, because this is not about you or about Wheelsong Books - it's about helping children who are in desperate need. 

Secondly, only submit poetry that is a) your own work and b) has not been subject to any other publishing agreement. Poetry you've shared on Facebook and other social media is fine, but please do not send in work that has been published elsewhere, and is subject to another publishing contract. That could lead to legal action. The editorial team will also reject poems if we suspect they have been either plagiarised in part or whole, or generated partly or wholly through artificial intelligence.

Thirdly, submit up to 3 poems as either plain text or in a Word file via email direct to this email address: wheelsong6@gmail.com. Submissions by any other means will not be considered. Poetry submitted as images or photos will not be considered, nor will links to other sites. Please supply a title for each of your poems. Please also supply your real name - we will not publish works by poets using pseudonyms. 

And before you ask: There is NO specific theme. Write about what you want. 

Finally, all poems submitted will be subject to review by our editorial team. Your poetry will be anonymised (your name blanked out) so the editorial team can't see who you are. If your poetry is selected, you will be informed via email and a publication agreement will be sent to you for you to complete and return. Your work will be then published under your name. If your work is not accepted for publication, you will receive an email informing you of the team's decision. No correspondence other than via email will be valid. Please don't try to text or direct message us. We won't answer. 

The window for submission is now open, and will be closed at midnight (UK time) on Sunday April 27, 2025. Any submissions received after this time/date will be rejected. If there is an extension to this date, you will be informed. The editors' decisions will be final. 

Please Note: Shorter poems are more likely to be accepted for publication than longer pieces - space will be limited in the book due to resource and production limitations. Several poetry groups will participate, including Invisible Poets, Wheelsong Poetry, Pure Poetry and Safe Haven. Poets from outside these groups are also eligible to take part, so point them to this blog, and keep visiting this blog to find out news as it unfolds. We look forward to reading your submissions. Good luck! 

Steve Wheeler (Editor in Chief) 

Photo courtesy of Save the Children