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Insta-Poets

Instagram has changed the game. Has poetry ever been this accessible before? Have poets ever been able to share their work with such ease?

 Instagram is not the right platform for every piece. It's for minimalist poems or lines from a larger poem. There will always be a need for print and for Spoken Word, for literary magazines and for live audiences. I will continue to pursue traditional means of publishing my work.

 However, insta-poetry appeals to my philosophical belief that art should be freely given. I want to be like Liz Gilbert and stop asking my creativity to make money for me. I want to be like Amanda Palmer and let people support my work if they already love it. How will they know that they love my work if they don't have access to it? Plus the purpose of art is connection. How can art connect us to each other if we keep it to ourselves or confine it to obscurity? Art should be freely given. Instagram allows that.

 This is the poetry movement of my generation. Sure not every insta-poet wants that title, but I want it. I don't find it reductionist. I don't find it insulting. I'm grateful to be alive at a time when millions of people want to read new poetry immediately and can.

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