I basically decide to make a zine when I’ve had so many conversations about a topic that a shortcut would be useful. Not that the conversations aren’t fun; I just want to make sure people can share these resources/ideas beyond the conversation. The newest zine in my library is maybe a little more niche than the others—it’s a collection of resources for people who are looking to start some kind of creative-writing based group: like a high school poetry club, a writing circle, etc.

As always, there’s no one way to do that, and not everything in this zine is going to apply to every person in every situation. But my hope is that there’s something useful in there, at least as a starting point.

One brief note: This is a traditional, 8-page, “z-fold” zine. If you want to print/cut/fold some yourself, here’s a PDF (note that it’s formatted for 11×17 paper). I have a different 8-page zine that’s all about getting involved in spoken word for people who are new to it. I have also, however, combined the two 8-page zines into a single 12-page zine (cutting some of the overlapping content), that I will have with me at shows/events for the foreseeable future. If you’re a teacher, event organizer, etc. who might be interested in a bulk order, feel free to get in touch using my booking form.

As always, here’s the full text of the zine:

All the Threads Between Us: The Power of Poetry Clubs, Writing Circles, Open Mics, and Other Collective Efforts

Imagine a world where every school, college, library, and community center had a weekly poetry club, writing circle, and/or open mic, a world where everyday people regularly met up with each other (in person or virtually) to share their art, tell their stories, and really listen to one another. These collective efforts can help us grow as writers, but they can also help us grow as people. This zine shares some tools and resources for getting started.

One of the biggest myths about being an artist is that it’s something you do alone, in your own head. You lock yourself up in a cabin for ten years and do nothing but write your masterpiece. That approach may work for some people, but for a lot of us who become writers, the process is much more about community, about finding a handful of friends or colleagues to bounce ideas around with, give each other feedback, and support one another.

EXAMPLES OF WHAT “COMMUNITY” CAN LOOK LIKE

• An after-school poetry club that meets weekly to talk about poems and workshop one another’s writing.
• A virtual writing circle where friends meet up once per month as “writing accountability buddies” and encourage each other.
• A regular open mic where community members can share what they’ve been working on.
• A shared online document where even just two or three people can post what they’re working on and give each other feedback via comments.
• A class or workshop offered by a local organization, school, or other formation.
• A collective of poets committed to creating and distributing a zine or chapbook on a particular theme.

SO HOW DO I START ONE OF THESE?

The answer to this question will look different depending on who and where you are, but a few thoughts:

• A good first step is to research. Find out what already exists in your community. Maybe there’s something you can join, rather than starting something new.
• A writing club can be formal (like a registered student organization), or informal (like a group of friends). It can be public/open to all, or just for people you already know. Do what works for you.
• If you’re a student, and want to explore starting a group, ask for help from a staff or faculty person who knows the process for organizing a club.
• For those of us who are not students, it could be about reserving a meeting room at a library, sending a couple emails to other writers we know, or setting up some kind of online space.
• Spread the word! (via word-of-mouth, posters & flyers, email lists, social media, or however you can). Don’t expect anyone to just magically show up.

The first time we try doing this, it’s totally normal for it to not be huge right away. Maybe no one shows up. Or maybe it’s just 1-2 other people. That’s okay! These things can grow. In any community, there are at least a few other writers. We all just have to find each other.

And I know: community isn’t always easy. Maybe someone shows up to your new writing circle and takes up way too much space, or maybe someone shares a problematic poem and then everyone else has to deal with it—these kinds of things can happen, and small-group facilitation is a specific skill that can take time to build. But I don’t want the possibility of something annoying to take away from the possibility of something magical, all the good things that can happen when we crew up and collaborate. One tactic: when it’s possible, it’s probably a good idea to start with people we know and trust, before trying to organize some big, wide-open, public thing. That way, we’re not on our own when issues come up.

WHAT DO WE DO? A SAMPLE AGENDA

What you do will depend on what you, and the other people in the space, want out of the experience. But here are a few ideas:

• Maybe start with some freewriting time as people arrive; this is a warmup activity, a space to process the day and get some thoughts down on paper. More on this later.
• Some kind of welcome: because we’re not just writers; we’re also human beings. So it can be good to check in with each other, have space for new people to introduce themselves, and talk about our current relationships with (or goals for) our writing.
• One of the best ways to grow as a poet is to read poems and/or watch videos of poems, and then have an open discussion about what you noticed. What tools is that poet using? What do you appreciate about their approach? What could you imagine being different? Dig into some examples.
• Writing time! Take some time (depending on the group, it could be 10 minutes, or 20, or whatever) to just do some writing. This could involve sharing a writing prompt, and then people could choose to write to that prompt, or just continue working on something they’ve already been working on.
• Workshopping time! This is a space for people to share and get feedback, if they choose to.

Again, there’s no one way to do this, but this general “flow” for an hour or two is something I’ve seen successful writing groups use.

TIPS & TOOLS FOR WORKSHOPPING

While getting feedback can be a crucial step in our development as artists, it can also be intimidating. In a writing circle, we want to share constructive feedback so we can all grow, but we also want to avoid just tearing into each other without any affirmation or care. A few workshopping questions that might be useful:

• Starting with the positive: What did you appreciate about that writing? What elements worked?
• What did you notice? (no judgment; just what “stuck out” in terms of the writing, the content, the approach, or the performance?)
• Were there any sections of the writing that were unclear, or that you have questions about?
• What do you see as “the work” of this piece of writing? Could you imagine how any particular revisions could help this piece could do that work even more effectively?
• Assuming the writer is going to keep revising this piece, what might they experiment with? Are there any elements or sections that they could expand, cut, or “play around” with in that revision journey?

A FEW SAMPLE WRITING PROMPTS & ACTIVITIES

FREEWRITE: Set a timer for 5 minutes and just write. Don’t think about it, judge it, or plan it out. Let your mind go in whatever direction it goes. This can be a good warmup.

THE WEB: Pick a topic, issue, or idea, and write it in the middle of a piece of paper. Then write everything that topic makes you think of around it: images, phrases, feelings, everything. Then, continue the web outwards, letting associations flow into other associations. You should end up with a big, chaotic web of words, which can then be the “raw materials” you use to write a poem.

THE WEB (REMIX): Same as above, but once you have the big, chaotic web of words, the challenge here is to not use any of them. Can you write about your topic from a completely new angle, without using any of the images or associations you normally would?

ZOOMING IN: Pick a topic, issue, or idea, and then “zoom in” until it’s a single, specific image. Then, write about the image, not just the topic. For example, writing about “love” vs. writing about a specific memory, a real moment in which you felt love: paint that picture, tell that story. I talk more about this process in my TEDx Talk.

EPIGRAPH: Choose a single line from a song, or a bit of dialogue from a movie, and use it as inspiration for your own writing. Be sure to credit that “seed” line.

TEN RESPONSES: What is something that annoys you? Or outrages you? Use a list format (Where each line or section starts with a number) to give yourself space to respond to that something in multiple creative ways.

TEN AFFIRMATIONS: Similar to the last one, but poetry doesn’t have to just be about the things that make us sad or angry. What brings you joy? What’s something you want to celebrate? Use that same list format to write an ode to something you love.

Even more writing prompts: Poets & Writers maintains the big “The Time Is Now” database of prompts. Organizations like TruArtSpeaks and Youth Speaks regularly share prompts (especially during April, National Poetry Month), as do individual writers like Ollie Schminkey, Ariana Brown, and others. An online search should turn up an endless supply of prompts.

FURTHER RESOURCES

For poems to read: Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud, Split This Rock, the Slowdown, and Poets.org all have big databases of poems to read. There’s also, of course, the library. I’m focusing here on places to find/read individual poems, especially for people just entering into poetry. But the next step would be to explore books from poets you like.

For poems to watch/listen: There’s a lot of spoken word on the internet, and naturally, a lot of it is bad, haha. But there are some channels that regularly feature some pretty high-quality stuff. Button Poetry is my go-to archive for video poems, but there are other good ones too: Write About Now, Youth Speaks, All Def Poetry, and SlamFind all have big databases of poetry videos to browse. There’s also my own list of issue-specific playlists here.

Online opportunities: Button Poetry’s “Button U” classes are virtual, generative, and live via Zoom. Beyond that, many other organizations (and even individual poets like Neil Hilborn and Ariana Brown) offer online classes, writing circles, or open mics. Dive in and do some research.

Local spotlight: For example, here in MN, you could share your work at a TruArtSpeaks event, bring a teaching artist to your school via COMPAS, slam at BuckSlam, take a class at the Loft Literary Center, and beyond! Here’s my list of local events/organizations; I’m sure it’s incomplete, but I hope it can be a starting point.

This zine was put together by poet Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre; check out his “Spoken Word and Slam Poetry Resource Hub” (featuring playlists of poems, resources for aspiring poets, and much more) at guante.info/spokenword