It’s important to have a network of poets around you—and not just for moral support. Here are three places to find poets online and offline to develop a network of people you trust to look at your work critically and provide constructive feedback.
Universities—if possible, take a class on campus. Yes, in a poetry class you’ll meet many amateur poets that way, but you’ll also get to know many advanced students as well as the professor. In a poetry class, you’ll receive feedback from a trained, professional literary analyst (your professor). Or, instead of a poetry class, you could take a class on a different type of writing to expand your horizons (and there’s always a poet or two in any writing class). Perhaps best of all, you could take a class on analyzing poetry. Your professor and classmates will all be able to offer in depth feedback on your own poetry—once you’ve become friends, of course.
Even if you can’t take a class on-campus, keep an eye on the campus calendar. Find readings, poetry circles and poets’ clubs that you might be interested in. Even if you can’t join, you can certainly befriend the individuals in the group.
- Writers’ and readers’ circles—Scour the Internet and local bookstores to find writers’ and readers’ circles. If you live in a large enough city (or are very lucky), there may even be a poets’ circle for you to join. These are especially helpful because they can provide not only feedback and help, but information on publishing your poetry.
The Internet—There are hundreds of websites devoted to poets and poetry. While reading the material on those sites may not make you a better poet by itself, many of these sites also feature forums for writers and poets. You can post works there just to share or to receive feedback. Many experienced and intelligent writers frequent online forums.
If possible, use forums that are free. BellaOnline has a free poetry forum with polls, discussions and games. You can also post your work for feedback from other forum members.
With a network of poets that you trust, you can feel more comfortable (though perhaps never completely comfortable) previewing and sharing your works, and receiving constructive feedback. The best way to grow as a poet is to receive honest criticism and try to improve from there (not to mention giving the same honest criticism to others).
Please join us in the BellaOnline Poetry forums to start developing your network of poets.
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