Hello readers,
This time we got the golden opportunity to interview the founder of By Me Poetry which is a huge platform for poets. So let's see what Susan has to say about her wonderful journey.
1) Tell us about you. Tell us the story behind By Me Poetry.
My name is Susan Llewelyn and I live in beautiful Melbourne Australia. I studied Arts at University, majored in
English Literature and Sociology and later completed a Post Graduate course in Creative and Professional Writing. I worked in the Fashion Industry for 10 years before having my three children and establishing my own home wares business Pikkie Products some 13 years ago.
Since my boys are now in their final years of high school and my daughter is at university, I’d been looking for a community project to get involved with that was different to the ones I had previously been involved with at a local level. I had recently started my own poetry page on Instagram and had been getting some positive feedback from all over the world. This interaction with people from different cultures and countries was fascinating to me. Finally since leaving university decades before, I had easy access to other like-minded people who loved sharing and writing poetry. I noticed that the Internet had reduced the world’s poets into a virtual global classroom. After quickly getting 1000 followers it occurred to me that it would be more rewarding for me and possibly other writers to start a poetry community group to share one another’s poetry. So I just advertised on Instagram for people to join By Me Poetry and within a few days we had six volunteers willing to begin the foundations of building a poetry hub just for poets and lovers of poetry.
2) What do you look in a person's poetry to be selected for the feature on your page?
First of all it is always an honour to be asked to read someone’s poetry. People who write poetry are revealing their soul and that is not an easy thing to do. So being respectful is important. But generally I look for something that initially grabs my attention, a theme that resonates, an interesting point of view, a beautiful graphic or something from a poet who I don’t know. I’m always looking for new poets to feature or poets who I haven’t read before.
3) What had been your biggest fear or iceberg when you created the page?How did you overcome it? Who were the supports through all of it?
I love thinking about big ideas but at the same time they can be overwhelming when faced with trying to implement them.
Fear of the unknown is always part of the process and I’m not sure if it ever gets easier to overcome so I just resign myself to moving forward regardless. After a while as things develop and start working it’s always good to look back and recognize how far we’ve come in just seven months. Our team is very supportive of one another so I look to them for advice and also my family who know me the best.
4) How can the writers out there overcome the writer's block?
To overcome writers block I always suggest that poets put their writing down, take a well-earned break and get out enjoy life. Go visit a friend, go to the movies, the art gallery, go for a hike in the mountains, walk along the beach, go on a holiday, watch a great tv drama. Writers need to experience life to recharge but also to give them ideas for something new. Challenges are also good for this. At By Me Poetry we run a weekly challenge to get poets thinking outside the box so they can flex their poetic muscles. I also like to ask a weekly question such as “Why do I write…” to get writers thinking not just about writing poems but why they do what the do to encourage perspective and to think about what the act of writing brings to their lives personally and emotionally.
5) In one of your live videos you mentioned trying to connect with people. How can introverts try and overcome this?
The process of writing can be lonely and insular but with the internet and especially Instagram, we can connect with other poets and artists. By sharing our works, following, making comments and joining in on challenges we can (if we want to) share our thoughts and ideas and support one another. We try to encourage writers to get out of their writing closets and participate by providing fun things to write about but also giving tips on how to connect and perhaps start their own pages, challenges or to write their first book.
6) When did you start writing? Did you begin it by writing your story or observing? Is there any personal account?
I wrote my first poem at school when I was I think 12 years old. The experience was an incredibly positive one because I was allowed for the first time to write about something that I chose to write about. Instead of solving a maths problem or writing up a science report, I was able to create something that was entirely original. I remember the poem was about the sun and as I wrote it I felt my mind unlocking and venturing into the realm of unexplored metaphors, colours and themes. My teacher read my poem out to the class and I remember being incredibly proud but also being aware that I had the power to create something new and original if I wanted to. Never underestimate the influence that teachers can have on a child’s growth and learning.
7) What makes you most happy as being a writer?
I enjoy being a writer as it allows me to communicate in ways I can’t do or don’t yet know how to verbally. The process of writing unlocks things about myself and the world around me, that are hidden and come from a subconscious level.
8) If you were to provide one tip to the writers, what would it be?
Try not to be too hard on yourself. Writers are by nature our harshest critics. Try to be proud of where you are and give yourself a pat on the back once and a while. On By Me Poetry Live I try to tell poets that they are amazing to give them a little confidence. Writers I think are the most underappreciated groups in society and I want to change that perception by offering a more positive and supportive point of view.
9) If you had to give one advice to the writer's parents, what would it be?
Encourage. Encourage. Encourage. Writing and to be able to write is a learned and incredibly important skill. Parents should encourage writing in all its forms, as it will help their children be better students and well-rounded people. Writing skills and to be able to think outside the box are invaluable for all jobs especially in the emerging creative economy.
10) Any inspirations?
There are plenty of well-known poets who I admire but the many millions of poets on Instagram are by far my greatest source of inspiration.
11) Recently we have seen funding for a cause/ service. Tell us more about it.
Yes we have started fundraising initially to cover administrative costs of running By Me Poetry but also to set our organisation up to tackle bigger projects like a By Me Poetry Magazine. To date I have funded all our costs but to grow and offer more services to poets we need funding to achieve better outcomes for all involved.
12) Do you believe in social work?
Yes I definitely believe in social work, helping those in need in our community and especially in volunteering. Over the years I’ve been involved in many local school and sporting clubs, which were all incredibly rewarding. I like the idea of people coming together to help others in a collaborative way. This is why when I started By Me Poetry I wanted to get others involved so that we can all have some shared experience. As we grow one of our objectives will be raising money for writers who are in need.
13) We have also seen a great response on your website. How does that feel?
Our website is a work in progress which has some way to go before we meet all our goals. Our first poetry competition has brought many people to our website which is exciting but we still want to provide more for them to read and share.
14) From where do those thoughts of these amazing challenges come up?
We have four people on our challenge team who create the challenges each week and then who select our favourites of the week. Sometimes it’s difficult to think up a topic for the week but we have found that with more people involved the more the ideas flow.
By Me Poetry
Head Office
2 Minto Street
Kew East, VIC, Australia, 3102
P 61+ 418536067
www.bymepoetry.com
hello@bymepoetry.com
www.instagram.com/bymepoetry
www.facebook.com/bymepoetry
www.twitter.com/byme_poetry