This was a project of voice. We’ve all done workshopping, submitted to journals, and the like. Much less commonly do we have the chance to receive feedback on a body of our work, or to give it. Our goal was to give this gift to each other, as we wrote, “to help the poet to see themselves.” The My Fellow Poets Project page presents several of the poets and their perspectives.
The idea came to life in the winter of 2023-2024, when one member of NCHS emailed poems they wrote on a hike to several members of the group. A brief email exchange ensued, commenting on their work. What stood out to me most was the sense that the responses were to and about the poet’s overall voice, not just individual poems.
In April 2024, I pitched this idea to the NCHS at Haiku Holiday. It would be a private collaboration among members who opted to participate. Each month, a different poet’s work would be featured, and the other poets would all read and provide written commentary. The goal was to step back and focus on overall voice. Here is the overview I handed out at Haiku Holiday.
Ten poets joined the project. We held a “kickoff” in the mid-summer with discussion led by Anne Burgevin, a poet, teacher, and author. She shared some of her own work and reflections on voice, and prompted the group to think about what is meant by “voice” and how it changes over time and in different life contexts.
Over the course of months, we took turns reading each other’s work and writing commentary in response. At the end, we met to debrief our shared experience. The biggest themes were gratitude for the supportive and insightful feedback, and joy for spending such focused time on a selection of each poet’s work according to their own curation. The My Fellow Poets Project page is the outgrowth of that discussion, presenting several of the participating poets and their perspectives on the project.
With deepest thanks to my fellow poets for sharing their work and their thoughtful reflections on other’s work; to Dave Russo for his guidance and taking care of the website aspect; to Anne Burgevin for leading our first group discussion.