10 Observations on Paying Poets

[scottwoods]

National Poetry Month is coming and poetry requests are in the air…or rather, free poetry requests are in the air. While I have written elsewhere on the mind-boggling and pioneering concept of paying for the performances and work of poets like any other artist, it remains a necessary observation to make now and then.

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Comments

[louiserobertson]

Can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself for not getting all the details. It puts me on the spot to have to ask. So awkward.

[scottwoods]

Most stories I hear from poets about how they hated not getting paid usually start of with the phrase, "I didn't even ask about the money up front."

[campana]

all good points. personally, for me, god's honest truth, it's never about money. i never read in a place i don't want to be reading in. the only time i'm concerned is when local venues charge at the gate and offer nothing to the artists. unless it is a venue i have a genuine personal interest in, and a relationship with the owners and i know they themselves are just trying to make rent, i'll make an allowance for that.

[campana]

again, i'm not a "touring" poet. i'm not working my way from city to city. if i do one out of town or out of state feature a year, that's ok with me.

[scottwoods]

I hear you and agree, Bill. It's not about the money for me either. But that doesn't mean I want to do free gigs at a loss to myself.

[sirenoftitan1]

How do you feel about shitty token payments? I have done gigs for like, $10, but I still feel like that's something...it says "we believe art is worth money". As an organizer, though, I would feel kinda embarrassed to offer such small payments, and would probably instead go with "we can pass the hat" or something to sound less cheap.

[anonymous]

Thank you for posting this sir. It is very helpful. Often poetry and the arts in general do not have a voice that speaks about the ethics. Thank you.

[fightingwords]

Well done.

[stefan11]

Very well done!

If anyone is curious, @ Ballabajoomba we pass a hat (any other way would cut the attendance significantly).
I offer a feature half of the hat but minimum $50. If I do not have enough in the hat, I use hats from other hats is sponsor the feature using hats from other shows. I say all of this immediately, at the moment of the first contact with a potential feature.