How to get your poem read on Live Poets Society

Live Poets Society is an important element of the Invisible Poets group. It's a live show that goes out every Friday at 8pm (UK time; 3pm EST, US) and draws quite a few viewers. The USA version is hosted by Matt Elmore and Brandon Adam Haven at the same time on Tuesdays. Who knows if there will be other spin offs? 

Some editions of Live Poets Society have been known to attract upwards of 1000 views, and all the poems are selected exclusively from Invisible Poets by the hosts. Poets can gain live feedback from viewers on their work, and it's usually very positive! It's quite a hot ticket to get your poetry read out (actually performed) on one of the shows. Many people understandably ask how they get their Poems read on the shows.

Here are some words of advice:

1) You first need to be a member of Invisible Poets poetry group. Click this link to join us! 

2) Share you poem to the group using plain text. We don't read out poetry that's submitted as images or videos. They're just about impossible to transfer across to the system for reading.

3) Lengthy poems are less likely to be selected. The shows are only 30 minutes long, and we like to read as may as we can in the time available. Keep your poems short and punchy if you can. 

4) This last one is subjective, but important, so listen up. We tend to choose poems that are different and out of the ordinary. Quirky and strange is good, bland ad predictable not so much. If you want to catch our eye, write outside of your comfort zone, make your poetry stand out, make it unusual, and highly visible! Take some risks and see what happens. 

Do not try to circumvent the above by attempting to send your poetry direct to one of the presenters. We tend to ignore this approach. 

I hope this helps those who want their poetry showcased on the shows. We are always on the lookout to add to the playlist! 

NB: If you'd like to learn how to enhance and enliven your poetry, check it all of the instructional posts on this blog. There are plenty!

Steve Wheeler 

Image from PickPic

Why are you here?

Several people have recently voiced their disappointment at not being noticed on Invisible Poets poetry group. 

This is quite ironic. We are Invisible Poets and we can be invisible. Most poets usually are! When I originally named this group I did so because it has become a universal rite of passage for just about every poet I have ever known. You start off in obscurity and continue that way until either someone with some clout notices you, or you begin to gain some acknowledgement from your peers. And for many, that never happens. You remain invisible. 

So we all have to ask ourselves the question: why are we here? Why do we join poetry groups, and why do we share our poems on Facebook groups, if very few people ever acknowledge, like or comment on our work? To answer that question, perhaps we should all ask ourselves an even more fundamental question: why do we write poetry?

Your answer to that question will be different to mine. We are all unique individuals and our motivation will be just as varied as our personalities. But deep down inside, I think that most of us write poetry because it is an outlet for our ability to infuse words with emotion and meaning. I know that when I write poetry, it is often because I have an idea or a thought that I want to crystallise in words. Sharing it with others is a secondary thing. I have many poets that not even my closest friends or family have ever seen. Perhaps they never will. Such poems are from the deepest recesses of my heart and mind, and perhaps it's better that they were never seen or read by anyone else. 

But when I share a poem (and many of my best ones are never shared!) on a Facebook group, my anticipation is that I will get some feedback from my peers, even if it is a simple 'like'. When this doesn't happen, it can be soul destroying, especially for those individuals who might be a little fragile at the time. Does feedback really matter? For many it really does. 

Perhaps feedback, acknowledgement, recognition is vital for you. So, when it doesn't happen for whatever reason, how do you cope? What is your strategy?  Do you go off into a dark corner and curse, weep and moan? Or do you pick yourself up and go and write a better poem? 

If you're simply posting poetry because you want to express yourself and aren't too bothered whether others read your work or not, then stop reading now.

For those who crave a little more attention for their poetry, here's something to ponder: 

On Facebook one of the main reasons people may not notice your poetry is because they haven't see it. It doesn't appear on their timeline as they scroll through posts. This is usually because you haven't engaged much with other people's posts. Facebook algorithms are designed to encourage social interaction. The more you comment and like other people's poetry, the more likely they are to see you posts coming up in their timelines. 

So next time you feel ignored on a Facebook poetry group, think about commenting on, and liking a few other people's posts. If you regularly do this and build up connections with others in the group, you'll soon begin to see them offering you comments and likes on your posts too.

Steve Wheeler

Image source

The Power of Immediacy

Back in the day (and I'm talking mid 80s to early 90s) in the pre-internet, pre-smartphone, pre-social media age, life was simple, but everything took so long to accomplish. As a performance poet, I frequented, and sometimes MC'd live poetry events at festivals. I also appeared in several bands, usually accompanied by my trusty axe (the one in this photo is a Gibson Les Paul - a set in the Big Top at Greenbelt Festival 1983). Under clear blue skies, warmed by the summer sun, we would stand on makeshift wooden stages with nothing more than a microphone and a book of poems, and hold forth to whomever was walking by. Sometimes we would garner audiences of up to a thousand people and on one occasion, I managed to blag a spot on the main stage of a major festival and performed in front of over 24 thousand people. Heady days. I wish oh I wish I could remember the names of my fellow festival fringe poets. 

Poets need feedback. All of the feedback we received for our performances and readings was received by our audience in the form of applause and an occasional comment or two. Sometimes people would write to us. I had a few letters and notes from people through the mail appreciating my poetry, and one notable complaint. One person took umbrage about one of the poems I read, called Vegetarian. She herself, she informed me, was a vegetarian, and then proceeded to berate me for the words I had written. I think if the Vegans had landed on the planet by then, she might well have claimed to be one. She was adamant and militant about her vegetarianism. 

In writing, I replied that she might have misunderstood my poetry. I was not sniping against vegetarians, but rather praising their stance, and bemoaning my lack of discipline in my own dietary practices. She replied by return of post, a huge diatribe including several printed sheets of documents that claimed the health benefits of vegetarianism. She had missed the point. Completely. This went on for a few weeks. Back and forth. Her final mail to me was a small package rather than a letter. Must have cost her a fortune to send it through the mail. At this point, I politely wrote back thanking her for her concerns, and wishing her well. This exchange took place over a couple of months. It served to inform me that some people, passionate or not about their beliefs, can sometimes be seriously wrong, but will go to any length to try to prove their point. 

Today of course, in the age of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, anyone can voice their views to anyone else, and regardless of all the drivel, vicious trolling and vacuous spam we receive, there is the power of immediacy. There is nothing quite like live poetry. During my time performing (and I hope I can resurrect that time) I had the pleasure to meet many talented individuals including luminaries such as Stewart Henderson, Steve Turner and the late great Larry Norman - all of whom I consider to be excellent poets leading lights in the poetry world. 

But I spend most of my time now online, either reading live or responding to discussions and comments on Facebook poetry groups such as Pure Poetry and two of my own groups Invisible Poets and Wheelsong Poetry Group. (Join us if you wish.) Some of the content posted is astoundingly good in quality, and I of course join in, sharing my own compositions. The beauty of these groups is that you can gain almost instant feedback on your work. It's often complementary, with an occasional comment about how it can be improved or extended. What would have taken days or even weeks back in the 80s and 90s now takes seconds, and can also be immediate through live chat and messenger systems. Oh how the world of performance poetry has changed!

Steve Wheeler