POETS AT YOUR SERVICE
Can't land a guest slot on There's a Poem in That... but still want a custom poem?
A slot on TAPIT is always free, but if you'd like to skip the line, the poets below are standing by to write poems on paid commission, privately or for broadcast on TAPIT, for a fee. Together, they form The International Bureau of Custom Poetry.
By commissioning a poem, you commit to at least three hours of one-on-one interviews. You'll be presented with a simple contract that reserves the poet's rights. Your process may be private or taped for use on the podcast, at your discretion. Individual rates are set by the poets themselves, and cover roughly ten hours of R&D. Contracts are handled by TAPIT staff. Simply click a link below to inquire!
SASHA LAPOINTE
Sasha is from the Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest, and draws inspiration from her coastal heritage, city life, trauma and resilience, PTSD, sexual violence, the work her great grandmother did for Lushootseed language revitalization, and loud basement punk shows. You can hear how Sasha's poem for TAPIT helped a stranger get back on her bike in TAPIT Episode 4: Bonnie. Click here to hire Sasha.
Richard blanco
Cuban-American engineer Richard Blanco was selected by President Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in U.S. history. He writes of exile and home, place and belonging, social justice issues, citizenship, kinship, and sexual identity. In April 2022, Blanco was appointed the first-ever Poet Laureate of Miami-Dade County. You can hear Richard on an upcoming TAPIT episode. Click here to hire Richard.
TODD BOSS
Todd Boss is the host and creator of There's a Poem in That, as well as a producer, writer, installation artist, and innovator. A farm kid from Wisconsin's Eau Claire River Valley, Todd is a nomad who writes of travel, landscape, art, and religion, with a deep appreciation for the intricacies of relationships, children, and family. You can hear him on every TAPIT episode. Click here to hire Todd.
SAMIYA BASHIR
Samiya styles herself as "a shapeshifter and fire starter." She is a poet, artist, activist, author, and professor who is currently the director at Lambda Literary, an LGBTQ+ writer's organization. She writes about the intersections of culture, change, and identity through the lenses of race, gender, the body, and sexuality, as well as public health and social justice issues. Click here to hire Samiya.
DORIANNE LAUX
Born in Augusta, Maine, in 1952, Dorianne Laux became a published poet only after years of hard, hands-on work as a sanatorium cook, gas station manager, and maid. She keens to the seemingly mundane, reflective moments in life. She writes about men, regret, everyday objects, rites of passage, motherhood, the life of work, sisterhood, and especially sexual love, in a celebratory fashion. Click here to hire Dorianne.
NICK FLYNN
Nick Flynn is a poet, novelist, memoirist, playwright, and teacher of Creative Writing at The University of Houston. His poetry and prose explore the tenuous membrane that separates our comfortable, everyday existence from the ragged margins of society. Nick's work focuses on self-awareness, addiction and recovery, grief, childhood trauma, dysfunction, the innate emotionality of life, and the complexity of human nature. Click here to hire Nick.
MAJOR JACKSON
Major grew up in Philadelphia and earned a degree in accounting before nonprofit arts administration engaged him with the poetry community. He writes about art, literature, jazz, sports, pop culture, influential figures, philosophy, grief, and accountability, especially as these topics relate to the African diaspora. Click here to hire Major.
AIMEE Nezhukumatathil
Aimee lives in Oxford, Mississippi, and writes romanitcally from her Filipina and Malayali Indian background about love, loss, land, curios of science and culture, everything in nature from touch-me-not plants to vampire squids, and how food can be a locus for care, grief, desire, and nostalgia. Click here to hire Amy.
PHILIP METRES
Philip Metres, California-born of Lebanese patrilineage, plays a peacebuilding role as an Arab-American, teaching nonviolent resistance and writing about conflict, pluralism, neighborliness, Israel-Palestine relations, listening, and the precarity of arbitrarily bounded spaces. Click here to hire Philip.
BRIAN TURNER
Brian Turner is a California native and US Army veteran who has served seven years in Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He writes about war and homecoming, trauma and healing, melancholy, madness, addiction, violence, the loss of loved ones, and the complexities of personal peace. His band, The Retro Legion, combines music with poetry. Click here to hire Brian.
