Poetry In Voice is not accepting applications to join the Poet Network at this time. We are currently looking for new revenue sources to continue to fund the amazing work poets have been doing across the country for the past several years.
Welcome to our Poet Network!
Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie is inviting poets from across Canada to apply to work with us on a freelance basis and join our Poet Network. We are committed to working with poets who can connect with and challenge students’ perspectives, and we encourage any eligible poet who identifies as Indigenous, LGBTQIA2+, a person of colour, D/deaf, or differently abled to consider joining our network.
Consult our eligibility requirements, read about the ways you can become involved, then apply for a poet account on our site.
If you are new to our network, your first assignment is to complete all of the fields in your poet account. Once you have completed your profile, you will receive $50 and we will be in touch with opportunities that match your interest(s).
We are currently not accepting applications from regions where there is an abundance of Poet Networkers. As this may change over time please feel free to fill out the application form and we’ll let you know. For more information, contact Salima Tourkmani-MacDonald, our Program Coordinator.
Whether you are new to Poetry In Voice or you are a familiar face, we are excited to have you on board!
Eligibility requirements
Any page poet interested in joining our poet network must:*
- have specialized training or a combination of experience in the field of literature
- be recognized as a professional by peers working in the same literary artistic tradition
- have a history of publications in a professional context, implying an editorial selection process with remuneration; more specifically, have published a minimum of 1 book or have a minimum of 10 poems published in literary magazines, periodicals or anthologies that are published by literary book publishers
- have a commitment to devoting more time to artistic activity, if possible financially
Any spoken word artist must:*
- be a professional artist and
- have created or publicly presented a minimum of 2 spoken word performances and have received an artist fee for them
*As per the Canada Council for the Arts’ Applicant Profiles.
Work available
Visit classrooms
With our Poet In Class/Poètes à l’école program, we’ve brought dozens of poets into hundreds of classrooms across Canada, and this year, we will continue to expand our reach.
Class visits are scheduled between September and June of the school year. Class visits can take place in person or virtually, depending on the class needs. We encourage all of our Poet Network to maintain as much flexibility as possible since requests may change at the last minute due to changing health and/or school policies.
We do not require police checks for this work because a teacher should always be present during a school visit; however, some schools and school boards require that you have a police check.
What experience is expected?
- Previous experience in high school classrooms or with high school–aged students is a clear asset.
- While our focus is on secondary schools, we are open to connecting poets with primary school teachers who have requested a visit — please indicate any relevant experience on your CV.
How will poets be compensated?
Our poet networkers are independent contractors. PIV/LVP pays the first $500 of a poet school visit. You may agree, in advance of your visit, to charge the school extra or to arrange additional visits. PIV/LVP is not responsible for collecting this extra amount and will only pay $500 maximum per school visit. Based on other Canadian organizations' fee structures, we suggest $500 could cover a maximum of 3 hours spent in a school, or 2 one-hour virtual classroom visits.•
You can extend your visit at a school or even do a follow-up visit at your discretion, but your extra time must be paid for by the school. PIV/LVP will only pay for one poet visit per school during a given school year.
How does the Poet In Class program work?
- Teachers search our network of poets and submit a visit request: Our Poet In Class page features all poets who are actively participating in the program at a given time. Teachers requesting a visit will have the option to select a specific poet.
- Poetry In Voice manages those requests and schedules visits based on proximity and poet availability: Poets are welcome to do their own outreach to schools; however, to schedule a visit with you, a teacher must request a visit through the Poet In Class page on our website.
- Prior to a visit, the poet and teacher(s) negotiate logistics and expectations: The poet and teacher receive an email from Poetry In Voice confirming the time and date of the visit. Then it is up to the poet and teacher to connect by phone or email and negotiate the details.
- After each visit, the poet and the teacher complete a brief questionnaire: A visit is only considered “complete” once the poet questionnaire has been filled in.
Judge recitation contests
During the school year, we host live and online recitation contests, where poets judge students’ performances according to our scoring rubric.
A Team Regional is a live contest where teams from local schools compete against one another. These events last up to two hours, and judges receive an honorarium of $500 for their time.
We also have two online contests, The Junior Online Finals and the Online Qualifiers, in which judges use their own computers to watch and judge students’ recitation videos. Judging takes place within a two-week period, and judges receive an honorarium of $500 for their time.
What is involved?
Performance judges are responsible for:
- Familiarizing themselves with how to judge.
- Reading the poems to be recited in advance (for live events, these will be emailed to you)
- Judging each students’ recitation
What is a Team Regional and how are judges compensated?
Team Regionals are contests where teams from local schools compete against one another. All our Team Regionals will be held in person this year! Judges will be chosen by region and receive an honorarium of $500 for their time.
What are the Junior and Senior Online Contests all about and how are Judges compensated?
Each school year, we host 2 online contests:
- The Junior Online Finals: Students in grades 6-8 submit two recitation videos, then judging takes place in early March. Prizes are awarded to the top nine students and their school libraries at the end of March.
- The Online Qualifiers: Students in grades 9-12 submit their videos, then judging takes place in mid-March. The 42 National Semifinalists are named and then the 9 top-scoring students are invited to compete at our National Finals later that spring.
For both the Junior and Senior online contests, judging takes place during a two-week period. This work can take up to a total of 1½ days, and judges receive an honorarium of $500 for their time.
Write content
What types of content will be assigned and how will poets be compensated?
- Lesson plans that will get students fired up about poetry: $500, published with attribution
- Dive Ins and one-liners to provide different access points to a poem (not all poems have them yet!): $150/poem, Dive Ins published with attribution, one-liners published without attribution
- Writing prompts (up to 200 words) to inspire students to find their own poetic voices: $50, maximum one per poet and published with attribution
- Other poets’ bios (100-150 words): $50/bio, published without attribution
- Extended poet biographies (300 words): $100/bio, published without attribution (we don't have any of these on the site yet, but we're eager to add some!)
All content creation is overseen by our team. Tasks will be assigned according to our needs, and the preferences you have indicated in your profile.
Please read our writing guidelines before you begin your assignment.
Fine print:
- By submitting written content to Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie:
- you’re granting Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie non-exclusive, world rights in English to publish your writing on our current website, on any additional websites created by our organization, and in our social media channels.
- you’re implying that you’re the sole author of the work — please cite any sources used and don’t plagiarize.
- A poet can only submit one writing prompt to Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie.
Employment & Payments
As a member of our Poet Network, you are considered a freelance worker.
Once a month, Poetry In Voice will tally up the work you have completed. You will be paid by Interac E-transfer at the beginning of each month. A description of the work will be included with the E-transfer. You’re welcome to send us invoices for the work you’ve completed in a given month.
To ensure our records are up to date, please ensure that your mailing address and payment details are always current in your account.
You will not receive any paperwork from Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie for declaring your freelance salary for income tax purposes. Please speak to your financial advisor if you have any questions about this.
As an independent contractor, you are responsible for reporting your revenues for tax purposes. Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie does not issue tax receipts.
For poets who visit schools, please note that a visit is only considered “complete” once you have filled out your post-visit questionnaire.
Application
Create your poet account application here: https://poetryinvoice.ca/create-account
If you already have a poet account, you can log in