Industry Insider – Starting and sustaining a career in poetry

As part of the Poetry and Spoken Word Group’s Autumn focus on ‘Working in Poetry’, this industry panel chaired by Rishi Dastidar with Laurie Bolger and Stephanie Conn will dive into the different ways that poets and performers can sustain themselves across their careers.

Drawing on their wealth of experience, panellists will discuss sources of income beyond book royalties including teaching, partnerships and other practical tips for creative freelancers.

This event is in conjunction with our Poetry and Spoken Word Group (PSWG).

#SoAatHome Industry Insider events – free for all + donation

As of Feb 2025, our #SoAatHome industry insider events will be free for all but with a donation option when registering for the event.

All donations made go towards the Society of Authors’ Access Fund. The fund is to help provide authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats. If you would like to make a donation with your booking, please do so when registering for the event below.

Programme

• Welcome, introductions and housekeeping from Rishi Dastidar (3 mins)
• Panel discussion with Rishi Dastidar, Laurie Bolger and Stephanie Conn – Full line up to be announced soon (60 mins)
• Comfort Break (5 mins)
• Q&A with audience (20 mins)
• Summary and closing comments (2 mins)
• This event will be moderated by Tilly Zeeman – Publishing Contracts Advisor and PSWG co-coordinator, SoA

What will this session cover?

• Different sources of income from creative work
• Teaching, residencies and working in partnership with arts and non-arts organisations
• Strategies for balancing creative and freelance work with day jobs
• Planning for the long-term

Who is this session for? 

Poets and spoken word artists at all stages of their careers, whether they are just starting out, moving into poetry or are more established in their publishing careers.

About the Poetry and Spoken Word Group

The SoA Poetry and Spoken Word Group (PSWG) page is a professional community for poets and spoken word artists. We come together to discuss issues affecting poets and the spoken word community, offer advice and support, and raise the profile of poetry and performance.

Find out more here

The Line up

Rishi Dastidar

Rishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by the Financial Times, New Scientist and the BBC, amongst many others. His third collection, Neptune’s Projects (Nine Arches Press), was longlisted for the Laurel Prize, and a poem from it was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2024. He is also editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press), and co-editor of Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Poems from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (Corsair). He reviews poetry for The Guardian and is chair of Wasafiri. His latest publication is A hobby of mine (Broken Sleep Books).

Laurie Bolger

Laurie Bolger is a London-based writer and founder of The Creative Writing Breakfast Club. Her debut pamphlet Box Rooms (Burning Eye) has featured at Glastonbury, TATE, RA & Sky Arts. Laurie’s writing has appeared in The Poetry Review, The London Magazine, Magma, Crannog, Stand and her poems have been shortlisted for The Bridport Prize, Live Canon, Winchester and Sylvia Plath Prizes.

In 2023, Laurie’s poem ‘Parkland Walk’ was awarded The Moth Prize and was Highly Commended in the Forward Prize for Poetry. Her latest publications include Makeover (The Emma Press) Spin (The Poetry Business) and debut collection Lady (Nine Arches). Laurie has been teaching creative workshops for over a decade bringing people together to celebrate their own unique voices & scribbles.

Instagram: @lauriebolger_ | X: @lauriebolger | Website: www.lauriebolger.com

Stephanie Conn

Dr Stephanie Conn is a poet, creative writing facilitator, mentor and literacy consultant from Northern Ireland. She is the author of the poetry pamphlet Copeland’s Daughter (Smith/Doorstep, 2016) and three collections with Doire Press, The Woman on the Other Side (2016), Island (2018) and off-kilter (2022). She is the recipient of multiple arts awards and residencies, most recently a Poetry Ireland residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, an Arts Council of Northern Ireland ‘Major Individual Award’ and a Royal Society of Literature, ‘Literature Matters Award.’

The full line up for this event is to be announced soon

Send us your questions

If you would like to send questions in advance, email Mzeeman@societyofauthors.org with ‘Career in poetry’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance but will endeavour to answer as many as we can from the audience on the day.

#SoAatHome Fundraising Bookshop

Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in the #SoAatHome. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links, a percentage will go to the Society of Authors’ Access Fund, giving authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats.

Need to know

Accessibility

• Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript, to watch with subtitles.
• If you require BSL interpretation for this event, please email events@societyofauthors.org

Before the event

• Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link
• If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, please check your junk/spam email folder
• Please add events@societyofauthors.org to your Safe Senders list so you receive our confirmation and reminder emails

During the event

• This online event will take place on Zoom Webinar. You will not be on screen.
• This event is 90 minutes

After the event

• Hashtag for this event: #SoAatHome
• Attendees will be able to catch the recording on our Vimeo channel

Booking

Please either use the form titled ‘Register – no donation’ or the option of the different ticket options with a donation amount depending on how much you would like to donate towards the Society of Authors Access Fund.