The Poet’s Privilege

How writers in certain spaces are fast-tracked into opportunities the rest of us have to beg for

Taken in Manchester Art Gallery (2022)

“Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.” —Robert Frost

I have been a poet, officially, since 2014. Since then, I have fought to have my voice heard, despite the incessant ignorance of people balling up my voice like a piece of paper only to be thrown in the bin.

It seems that time and time again, writers with YouTube channels get fast-tracked into every window of opportunity there is. They don’t have to sit there and read thousands of rejection emails. A video on their channel will drop that begins:

“Guys, I have some very exciting news! I’m writing a book! My publisher says I can’t talk about it much, but it will be released next year!”

Let’s take Savannah Brown for example. Now, I do quite enjoy some of her poetry, and I admire that she self-publishes a lot of her books. However, she is the patron of Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, which is something that is very hard to come by. There are plenty of us in the indie scene who deserve that opportunity, but because we aren’t YouTubers, we don’t get to.

I am fully aware that people are going to read this article and believe I am jealous. You’re damn right I am! That should be valid when you consider I am also pointing out the disparities. Book shopping is one of my hobbies, but I do feel a slight stab when I continuously feel I will never see a book on that shelf.

Even through self-publishing, places such as Waterstones won’t take your books. It’s a completely unfair world, and I want to point this out in order to demand change. I get one year older every year, and I am quickly running out of time. When your career is spent begging for scraps, you lose yourself to nihilism quite quickly.

Gabbie Hanna is someone who never expressed any notion of being an avid writer before her first collection came out. Despite this, she got a publishing deal and her book is immediately placed on the shelves. Then there’s me shoving business cards into copies of books at the bookstore, hoping someone looks me up.

If you go for an MFA, you usually have an easier time getting your foot in the door of The New Yorker. Usually being taught by a lauded poet, starting your career will not take as long as it would without one. There are poets I enjoy with MFAs, but one must recognise the privilege they have been afforded.

Publishing is a difficult industry to break into, but it would seem that nobody with any power in the establishment sees a problem with the privileges afforded to people with large platforms. As a writer, you have to build your own platform, but having one on YouTube is a different ball game.

I’m a small town girl with a passion for poetry, but I am exhausted. Even among my small-time peers I find myself forever in a cycle of being a balled up piece of paper returning to the waste basket.

Follow me on Twitter: @courtenaywrites