For those of us blessed with poetry in our lives, we know it is a beautiful and expressive art form that firmly places us at the centre of language abstraction and allows us to connect with our emotions and our world.
However, achieving the beauty and expressiveness of this art form can be difficult for many aspiring poets to know where to start or how to improve their skills.
This is where poetry mentoring comes in; as with anything in life, one of the best ways to learn is to find someone with experience who knows how to do what you want.
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” — Benjamin Franklin
Benefits of poetry mentoring
At the best of times, learning a new skill can be complex, not least because you are unfamiliar with the subject, but because of the challenges involved, such as managing the feelings of uncertainty, expectations of quick results, and overcoming fear and failure.
Unless surrounded by a tutor, mentor or like-minded people, learning can be a lonely, challenging experience.
For these reasons, a poetry mentor can provide invaluable guidance and support, accelerate your development and help you explore new ideas and become a better poet.
In this article, we will examine poetry mentoring, what it means, what is expected of a mentor and mentee and how you can find a mentor to help improve your work.
What is a poetry mentor?
By definition, a mentor is “an experienced and trusted adviser.”
So it stands to reason a poetry mentor provides guidance and support to the person seeking help and assistance, the mentee in the field of poetry.
Typically a mentor can help develop a mentee’s writing and performance skills, provide feedback on their work — whether for a one-off poem, pamphlet or collection, introduce the mentee to their network and opportunities, and provide motivation, support and encouragement to help the mentee grow.
“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” — Bob Proctor.
Areas where a poetry mentor can help
- Guidance and Support: A mentor can provide invaluable advice and support, helping you to navigate the often-complex world of poetry writing, submissions and performances.
- Feedback on Your Work: A mentor can provide feedback on your poems and performances, helping you identify areas for improvement and suggest how to strengthen your work.
- Accountability: A mentor can help keep you accountable and motivated, ensuring that you are making progress and working towards your goals.
- Networking: A mentor can help you to connect with other poets and literary professionals, providing opportunities to attend events and workshops and help you build your professional network.
- Inspire: Through a mentor’s own body of work and performances, they can be a source of inspiration and motivation, demonstrating to you, the mentee, what is possible and how to achieve your desired growth.
But is this all a poetry mentor does?
Well, yes and no; ultimately, it depends on the mentee’s needs and the strength and depth of the relationship.
Poetry mentoring is about a symbiotic relationship where information flows in both directions.
The mentee expresses their needs and objectives, and the mentor encourages, guides and directs the mentee.
We have all been on courses, which are brilliant in the moment, but later when we go away, life takes over, and we need encouragement and motivation, or maybe we have impromptu questions with nowhere to turn.
This is where a mentor can help.
Poetry mentoring can take various forms; see below for a discussion on mentoring schemes and formats.
How to find a Poetry Mentor
Understandably finding a mentor can be daunting; if not challenging, many questions exist, such as who do you ask, and where do you start? How do you approach a mentor?
Like dating, successful poetry mentoring is more significantly influenced by personalities and relationships rather than skills, achievements and accolades.
To find a mentor, you need an element of courage and an understanding of yourself, but more than anything, you need to ask!
You need to put yourself out there and ask to find the mentor you want and need.
An excellent place to start is with recommendations; they can save you the heavy lifting of finding a compatible and trusted advisor.
Your immediate network of family and friends or like-minded poets and event organisers at poetry events can be a fantastic source.
At a poetry open-mic event, I connected and found one of my mentors, having witnessed his performance and interaction with fellow poets and event organisers.
I knew I wanted a mentor who could help with my confidence and stage performance, but I also knew I wanted to connect with someone who would encourage and share similar values.
Where can you find a poetry mentor?
There are many different options available, whether for the page or stage. Here are a few places to start your search:
- Internet searches for poets and poetry organisations as well as literary presses. Visit their websites, and read their blogs to find names and contacts to approach potential mentors. Below are suggested search terms you could use.*
- Writing community and groups, workshops, poetry events and conferences are all excellent places to network and ask an attendee or event facilitator whose work you respect.
- Organisations such as colleges and Universities, city and town councils, and literary presses often run classes and events and have tutors and editors you could approach.
- Literary presses and magazines are a source of information for ideas and events to attend, as well as potential poets and mentors to follow. Some examples of literary magazines are Under the Radar, The Poetry Review, and The Butcher’s Dog, to name a few.
- National bodies such as the Poetry Society or local writing development agencies and associations such as the seven throughout England covering the South East, South West, London, East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and North are a good place to start. Some have up-and-running mentoring programs and links to mentoring schemes.
- Finally, go wherever poets and academics gather online and in person. You could join several Facebook groups, communities, forums, and writing and discussion groups online and in person. Check out this list of curated Top 20 poetry forums, discussion and message boards online.
- If searching online, here are typical search terms you may wish to use: poetry <location, for example, london> mentoring, poetry mentoring schemes, poetry mentor, poetry mentor jobs, poetry mentorship UK, free writing mentorship, free creative writing mentors online, find a poetry mentor, how can I become a good online writer?
Poetry mentoring schemes and formats
Mentoring schemes can take many different forms. Some are more formal, with regular meetings and structured activities, while others are more informal and allow for more flexibility.
Some mentors may focus on a specific area of poetry, such as form or style, while others may provide more general guidance.
- Poetry Mentorship Programs: Many organisations offer mentorship programs, allowing aspiring poets to work with experienced writers. These programs may be paid or free and may provide a range of activities, such as workshops, readings, and one-on-one mentoring.
- Poetry Workshops: Poetry workshops are another great way to connect with other poets and writers. Many workshops are led by experienced writers who can offer feedback and guidance on your work. Some workshops may also offer mentorship opportunities.
- Writing Groups: Writing groups can provide a supportive community of writers who can offer feedback and guidance on your work. Many writing groups are free to join and may offer mentorship opportunities.
- Online Resources: Many online resources are available for aspiring poets, including free creative writing mentors and online writing communities. These resources can be a great way to connect with other writers and find mentorship opportunities.
A sample 2023 Mentoring scheme
- Writing East Midlands Mentoring Scheme — A free scheme open to poets and writers, offering successful mentees up to £2000 worth of support towards their writing goals.
Advice for mentors
Thinking of becoming a mentor, or maybe you are already one and want to refresh what this entails? Then this is the section for you.
Mentoring can be both rewarding and necessary if you want to see your poetry practice flourish and grow.
It is a well-established fact that if you want to master a skill, one of the best ways to achieve this is to teach because teaching develops and requires a deeper understanding of the subject and offers new and different perspectives.
Mentoring further helps develop listening, patience, organisation, communication and creativity skills, which, interestingly, all benefit the further development of your poetry practice.
So when it comes to poetry mentoring, what would help make you be and become a great mentor?
- Build a value-based trusting relationship: The mentee may only be focussed on addressing their immediate need or challenge without necessarily knowing their why. Equally, they may have yet to explore what stimulates and motivates their creativity and frustrations as an artist. Establishing these aspects and their needs for the mentoring program will help shortcut and build a value-based trusting relationship.
- Be the bridge between their today and tomorrow: As a mentor, you are there to straddle the gap between where the mentee is now and their aspirations. Understanding current challenges and frustrations, their way of working, their ambition and where they want to get to are essential to delivering value, support and guidance.
- Share experiences and nurture: As a mentor, your most significant value is in your experience; by sharing your experience, both successes and failures, you help accelerate the mentee’s growth. Sometimes you don’t have the expertise or the answer, but offering an outside perspective or direction still provides immense value. In addition to your experience, remember you are also there to nurture by providing advice, setting goals, and inspiring and encouraging.
As a mentor, your primary role is to offer support and guidance, but also remember mentoring is a two-way activity where you deliver value and receive from the mentee knowledge on how you can grow.
Advice for mentees
As a mentee, the responsibility for your learning and development ultimately rests with you to express your wants and needs and respond and do the necessary work.
The success of the mentoring relationship is shared between you, the mentee and your mentor, which is why understanding how you learn and work and the type of relationship you want to establish is beneficial.
Here are some pointers towards achieving such an understanding.
- Establish what success looks like: By defining goals and objectives for your mentoring, you will form the guiding principles for who to approach and bring clarity towards your success. Communicating your wants, needs, expectations, and aspirations all form part of the necessary ongoing communication between you and your mentor.
- Self-reflect to establish the foundations for the relationship: As equally as it is essential to know what success looks like, it is vital to know the type of mentee you are and will be. Spending a moment to answer questions such as the type of interaction you enjoy, how you prefer to respond, and work will help with owning and developing your journey.
- Seek to build and maintain trust: Be open to advice and criticism. Your mentor will likely have experienced or seen things you don’t.
Overall remember it is up to you to own your journey and be clear on what you want. It could be help with pulling together a pamphlet or collection, critique over a poem or guidance with overcoming nerves and performing on stage.
It doesn’t matter what the requirement is; it is up to you and your mentor to decide and form a mutually respected agreement.
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey.
I am in the process of compiling frequently asked questions by mentors and mentees in preparation for mentorship. If you want a free copy, click on this link.
In summary, poetry mentoring should be a fun, engaging experience for the mentor and mentee as they navigate the committed relationship to grow.
If you would like to know more about the poetry mentoring services I offer or chat to discuss how I can help with your growth and development for both poetry on page and stage, check out my Services For You page or book a discovery call using the button below.
References
New Writing North: Paul Farley and John Challis on mentoring
Amy Zamarripa Solis: Finding your writing network
Links to websites and organisations are shared in good faith as non-affiliate links, which either I have found of personal use and benefit or see that it would be of advantage to others. I receive no incentive or benefit for promoting their service.