Four Poets Who Publish on Twitter
Because not all poets do
There are thousands of poets with active Twitter accounts worth following. Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, and Ada Limón, for example, are huge in the world of poetry/literature, but they don’t (frequently) do the one thing many readers of verse want above all else: post their work on Twitter for the world to read.
Granted, it’s tough to make a living writing anything, and poetry may be the least lucrative niche of all. So keeping one’s work in a place where it pays to be read (i.e.: in a book or literary magazine) is understandable to say the least. However, there are some poets out there in the Twitter-verse who say screw it: this is what I wrote; read it and tweet. Here are but a few:
Tyler Knott Gregson (@TylerKnott)
Tyler Knott Gregson is a writer, photographer, and podcaster who is very active on Instagram (346,000+ followers at the time of writing). He uses a typewriter to print poetry onto scraps of paper, which he then uploads to social media, including Twitter.
Much of his poetry falls into the “Insta-poet” genre (if there is such a thing), so expect a lot of verse about self-love, heartbreak, finding strength in oneself, etc., with a visual element to it.
Anthony Etherin (@Anthony_Etherin)
Anthony Etherin is a poet and podcaster who forgoes happy-feeling free verse in favor of formal, ultra-restrictive forms, such as palindromes, haikus, and anagrams.
He tweets these short, technical poems straight into Twitter’s text box — no fancy photography work to be found here. It’s just the words and the reader — who is probably scratching his/her head trying to puzzle out how to write a palindrome-haiku of their own.
Brian Bilston (@brian_bilston)
No list of poets on Twitter would be complete without Brian Bilston, the so-called “Poet Laureate of Twitter.” His poetry is characterized by humor and wit with some political commentary — but always with the heart in the right place.
As is the trend these days, most of Brian Bilston’s poems on Twitter can also be found posted on his Instagram page simultaneously.
Austin Kleon (@austinkleon)
Last but not least is Austin Kleon, perhaps best known for his NY Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist. His poetry is very visual-centric, and in fact the line between poetry and visual art is often blurred.
He has a penchant for collages and mini “zines”, each of which he showcases constantly on his website and across his social media accounts.
Kleon is also very prolific, so readers can expect something fresh on his Twitter feed every other day or so.
The 280-character limit means Twitter could be a stomping ground of excellent voices in poetry around the world. Unfortunately many of the best talents working today wouldn’t deign to let their words be printed (albeit digitally) on a place like Twitter. Or, conversely, the visual appeal of Instagram has garnered the attention of poetry readers and writers in a way that Twitter has so-far failed to replicate with as much success. Still, there are a lot of poets worth following — certainly more than this short list could enumerate — so take a look, drop your book, and start scrolling.
