—from Rattle #64, Summer 2019
Tribute to Instagram Poets
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Mack Jarvis: “I do seek traditional publishers, though not as much as I should, and have a background that would be considered the more traditional route for poets. I earned an MFA from NYU in late 2016. But the world of writing is changing, which includes social media, and I want to experience it all. I enjoy Instagram because I can publish anything on here—tiny things, vulgar things, incomplete things, things that would never be considered by a lit journal in a thousand years. It’s wonderful. And as a result, I’ve reached people I never would have reached if I had only gone the traditional route of publishing. Because I have a degree in writing, I was fearful my fellow academic-track poets would think my credibility lost or tarnished through this medium. While I don’t feel that’s the case, it has proven difficult to upkeep an audience because I’m not a poet who can or wants to produce/post multiple times a day, every day like most poets through this medium do.” (web)