Artist Networking - Nick

An important aspect of career development in any field is networking. For any poet to establish themselves into the poetry community, the poet needs to be deemed credible and a worthy contributor. A simple way for a poet to gain access to the community and promote their own work is to reference other poets they have worked with or studied. Referencing other famous poets’ work proves to readers and the community that the poet is invested in their art form. By referencing another famous poet, the poet has researched and studied the great poets’ style of writing, and hopefully from their research, has developed a style that highlights devices used by the famous poets and includes new original forms of expression to the audience.

When this topic was initially discussed in class, my immediate reaction was to compare the networking process used by poets to the networking process of musicians. Both art forms are similar in the sense that it is assumed that by referencing other artists who are successful, the artist who is referencing the successful artist has researched extensively on the successful artist, has learned from the successful artist, and/or has developed a lasting relationship with the artist whether that be personal or professional. A great example a poet who is often referenced is Walt Whitman.

One of the most well renowned American poets, Walt Whitman is frequently referenced for his free structure and poetic style. He championed free verse and dealt with important issues such as the abolishment of slavery and the concept of democracy. As Joseph Ross, an active poet in the Washington DC and online communities, stated in a guest lecture after studying Whitman he concluded, like others who have researched Whitman’s work, “Whitman struggled with the idea of democracy.” Poets like Joseph Ross learned from Whitman’s statements within his work, as well as other poets such as Langston Hughes; who often referenced the work of Whitman and directly addressed some work to Whitman posthumous. Hughes wrote “Old Walt” that addressed the way Walt Whitman often struggled to come to a conclusion of his ideas. This poem could be referencing his struggle with the concept of democracy and how it was applicable to the time. This makes Hughes credible because he shows the audience he has researched Walt Whitman’s work and biography to understand the struggles Whitman addressed. Joseph Ross also has established his credibility amongst the DC poetry community by referencing his research on Whitman. Ross also comments and engages the community within the DC metro area by visiting university classrooms that deal with poetry, as well outside of DC through forms such as the Poetry Foundation online. By engaging the community Ross, is networking and providing name recognition to establish himself as an influential poet in both communities.

Networking is a key element to any line of work; but even more so in the artistic fields such as poetry. Poets rely on the process to connect share work with others and spread the distribution of their work through their peers, as well as spread of their concepts through the development of poetry.