How to Become Famous According to Naomi Shihab Nye
Plus, Register for These Events at The Poetry Salon in September
Hi poets, writers and friends,
Welcome to our writing community. You’ll get plenty here for free, but if you become a paid subscriber you’ll get to join our 3 monthly writing workshop with award-winning poets and friends. Details below.
I’ve been thinking a lot about fame this year.
Probably because I turned forty. I just published my first book, (When the Moon Had Antlers, Pine Row Press, 2023) and went on my first book tour. I’ve reached some of the markers of success as an author and yet I’ve still been wondering, “Is this enough? and if not, what is?”
I’ve been writing essays on this topic, asking what is fame? Why do we want it? How do we get it, and do those who have it really deserve it? Does it make them happy?
I keep returning to the poem, “Famous,” by Naomi Shihab Nye.
You notice that this poem is not about doing anything super spectacular, but rather about doing “ordinary” things with and for other people. This makes you famous to those around you who are part of your community. Fame, for Shihab Nye is a lot less about the quantity of people who know you and more about quality of the relationship you have with others.
Develop quality not quantity relationships
At The Poetry Salon I know that I usually do a lot of the talking. I co-host a podcast, share a poem per week, and facilitate workshops. But I also know I’m not the only one with interesting, meaningful things to say. This fall I am creating more opportunities for other writers in our community to become “famous” by sharing their work with me and one another through a variety of platforms and events. Some of these are absolutely free. Others require a lot of work to create and maintain and therefore are only available for paid subscribers.
Here are some ways to become “famous” at our community this fall.
1. Share Your Poems With Us on YouTube at Our Monthly Open-Mic
We now record and post the poetry reading of our featured poets, along with select readings of our open-mic readers on YouTube. See our last reading on YouTube here. Register for our upcoming reading here.
2. Get Help Promoting Your Poems at Our “Well-Published Poets Society” ( for Paid Subscribers Only)
Do you have a book out? Do you want more people to read it? Join this co-promotion group and get help finding readers, who will give you reviews, and shout-outs on social media. (Link available for paid subscribers at the end of this newsletter.)
3. Learn from some of our Featured Famous Poets at our monthly craft workshops (for paid subscribers)
This month’s workshop will be taught by Kim Malinowski, author of Home, Phantom Reflections and Buffy’s House of Mirrors
and Jessica Purdy, author of You’re Never the Same, Adorable Knife, and Sleep in a Strange House.
Description forthcoming.
Want to polish your poems before you present them to the world?
You can also join us for this upcoming feedback workshop when you become a member of The Poetry Salon on Teachable here.
To get access to the link for our first meeting of The Well-Published Poet’s Society, become a paid subscriber and get the link below.
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