With the pandemic taking over the entire world, many poets have emerged from phases of quarantine and moments of civil unrest from racial injustice, the election, and the loneliness that comes from social distancing from loved ones. Many poets have even written about experiences from being sick with coronavirus.
These days, poetry is best advertised in short examples on social media, especially Instagram. If you love poetry, you need to follow these Instagram accounts. They are beautiful and deeply impactful.
The bio for this account reads, “Largest Provider of Spoken Word, Performance, & Slam Poetry Media” and they’re not kidding. With hundreds of viral videos of top poets, you can find them anywhere from YouTube to their published paperback copies. I’m always excited to see all of the diverse artists who are sampled here and I love that they post quotes from their featured poets, who also contain their own Instagram accounts.
Additionally, it’s also a great social media platform for promoting brand new artists. There are chapbook entry announcements and poetry contests that are constantly being broadcasted, so it’s a beautiful package of resources for all poets who want to try their hand at getting their name out there for publication.
Rudy Francisco is one of my favorite poets, and if you haven’t read his book “Helium” yet, you need to. His website sells his own merchandise that centers around some of the most famous lines from his poems. Usually, these are found as framed quotes, sticky notes, or featured illustrations from other artists who turn his work into a visual. I discovered him through the Instagram accounts of Button Poetry.
Andrea Gibson is a nonbinary poet who, before the pandemic, used to tour to perform their writings to many audiences. Recently, they have been posting photos of current quotes from their latest poetry as well as adorable photos of their dogs. My favorite book by this author is “Lord of The Butterflies,” and once you’ve read it, consider following their Instagram accounts to get information for future tours.
I recently discovered this poet after a friend of mine told me about her from one of the Instagram accounts she follows. Camille Inkwell posts her own poetry along with beautiful aesthetics that bring a beautiful visual to her words. She’s written two books called “Along the Wayside” and “Flowers and Weeds,” which I’m so excited to read for myself after seeing her content on social media. Additionally, Camille also has an Etsy store and sells beautiful jewelry that she posts about.
As you can tell, I love Instagram accounts that visuals to writing as a means of marketing the poet’s talent. Marie Jo Schwarz does this on her own feed. What’s exciting is that this poet creates original content for her writing, but she uses photographs, illustrations, and cartoons to convey her poems for her Instagram. I’m not sure if she writes her poetry based on her visuals or the other way around. Either way, it’s a beautiful combination and it suits her best writing.
Based in Atlanta, this next poet has some beautiful short poems on her social media. The post that pulled me in was of a handwritten paper that read “I fear/I will/Always be/Too much/Of a writer/And not enough/of a story/worth telling.” Ever since then, I’ve been addicted to her other forms of writing. She’s got four poetry collections that I’m excited to read for myself, especially one of her popular works, “Vessels.”
If you love fall and autumn colors, you will love Instagram accounts like Sam Payne’s. Same is a poet based in London and each one of his posts contains short poems with backgrounds consisting of orange leaves, cut-outs, and tiny illustrations. It’s adorable and the poems are cozy yet heartbreaking. My friend read “this boy is a rainbow” by him, and now I’m dying to read it, too, along with “this boy is a constellation.”
If you don’t know Rupi Kaur by now, you must be living under a rock. Her poetry collections have topped the New York Times Bestsellers list. Her story of starting out with self-publishing and her background is inspiring for other up-and-coming writers like myself.
Her grid on Instagram contains meticulous planning of an alteration between photos modeled by herself and poems that contain illustrations meant to inspire the reader. This is one of the best Instagram accounts you must follow if you love poetry.
If you prefer quirky and artistic Instagram accounts, one of my favorites is Austin Kleon. The man’s grid is colorful, busy, vibrant, and full of his sketches and work. His Instagram story also showcases projects that he is busy working on, whether it be music, writing, or drawing. The man is multitalented and is someone who inspires others to think outside of the box. I’m also a fan of his newspaper blackout poems, which I highly recommend you check out.
What I love most about Blake Auden’s posts on his Instagram account is the amount of effort it looks like he puts into them. He’s constantly posting original poems daily and most of them are handwritten. He has two poetry books called “Tell The Birds She’s Gone” and “Beekeeper” that I absolutely love. Also, in a lot of his images, there’s a hand with a tattoo on it and I’m curious to see what the entire tattoo looks like.
One of my favorite Instagram accounts you should follow is that of Erica Abbott’s. Her debut chapbook “Self-Portrait As A Sinking Ship” has made waves in the poetry world and if you follow her on social media, you can see her journey firsthand on how it all came to be. There are beautiful images of bookstores, playbills from broadway shows, vibrant flowers, and adorable Funko pop culture collectibles. If you love all things fun, be sure to check this author out on social media.
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