2018 Massachusetts Poetry Festival

What constitutes the success of a poet, and to what extent is this notion collective, rather than individual? Are the parameters of success fixed, or malleable? How might we reconfigure success outside of or against institutional norms? Panelists will explore these topics from a range of positions and experiences—academic and non-academic; journal and book publications; reading series and editorial work; community-building and resource-sharing. What does it mean for each of us to be “emerging"? What could it mean in the future? We will discuss paths, strategies, dreams, and the sociopolitical ways in which our subject positions as people affect our choices as poets in the world. Drawing on our own journeys as well as those of our models and mentors, we invite festival attendees to participate in a lively conversation on what it means to succeed as a contemporary writer.