SPEAKER_00 0:05

Yeah, I I think it's a mix. I think it's a blend. I think uh again, social we're in the social media world, so a lot of people still that's their main way of getting new news or information. And TikTok and Instagram and YouTube are probably the main avenues that people even hear about what's going on in the world, right? And so to hear that people are going back into the bookstores is great because there's a need for that. I think a lot of there's a fatigue, there's a social media fatigue where I think even Gen Z is kind of sick of being on their phone constantly.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Hi friends, this is Read and Write with Natasha Podcast. My name is Natasha Tines, and I'm an author and a journalist. In this channel, I talk about the writing life, review books, and interview authors. Hope you enjoy the journal. Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Read and Write with Natasha. So today I have with me a poet for the first time. And since 2015, Virus the Poet has been captivating audiences with raw emotion and thought-provoking poetry, tackling everything from family to society's biggest challenges. His bestseller, Poetry is Motion, Mind, Body and Soul, hit number one in 2023, cementing his impact in the literary world. He's a performer, a writer, and a speaker. Virus uses digital platforms to inspire and empower breaking boundaries with his unique storytelling. All right. So, Virus, hi, nice to meet you today. And I'm so happy to have my first poet on this on this podcast. So, first, I I actually want to talk about your pen name, Virus the Poet. Why this why this pen name?

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yeah, that's a great question. First of all, thanks for having me on the show. I appreciate it. You know, the the name, my name is Viral Gore. So if you you know the viral infection is worldwide known, it's in the dictionary and it means virus. So I just took that negative connotation of virus and and flipped it into a positive. And so I just that's where the poetry comes into play. So now virus, the poet, it just makes a flip on the on the viral infection.

From Arts Kid To Full-Time Poet

SPEAKER_01 2:24

I like it. So why poetry? I mean, what what made you interested in poetry? And are you doing this this full time full-time?

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, so poetry for me is just an avenue, it's a art, it's a channel of expression, right? So I was always interested in music and writing and drawing. As a as a child, I was very into the arts. And so as I was growing up and going through life's journeys, you kind of find different avenues to express yourself. And whether that's painting, drawing, writing, singing, rapping, whatever the case may be, for me, I just happened to stumble upon poetry, you know, going to university and in high school. And that kind of just seemed to be the outlet that resonated with me the most, where I can kind of spill up my feelings, but doing it in a rhythmic way and also make a positive impact on those listeners, watchers, or readers.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

And and are you doing this full-time?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Yeah, so I yeah, I'm definitely a full-time poet. So I I perform regularly, I do a lot of speaking engagements, and of course, I continue to write and try to produce more and more books.

Making A Living With Poetry

SPEAKER_01 3:28

So I I think you're the first full-time poet I've I've met. So I'm curious how you managed to monetize this. Because first, as we know, people I think read more fiction and non-fiction than than poetry. And the fact that you managed to do this full-time is admirable. So I I wanna I wanna know your secret. How did you do it?

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Yeah, sure. So it's a lot of hustling for sure. It's like any any other business you have on your own, you got two boots on the ground, you gotta build a lot of relationships with different cafes or uh publicists, different publishing houses just to get your name out there. And of course, a lot of grants, you know, when you're working working with different agencies and even government with the government, you do have to go through that process of grants, and and that's how you get funded a lot of time. It's not easy. So I, you know, I definitely tried. I at one point I was doing a full-time now, it's kind of in between. I'm looking at other avenues of generating some income. Of course, you know, the starving artist thing is a real quote. So uh at one point when I did start, it wasn't I wasn't a full-time always, right? I did have a full-time job and I was doing it more as a passion, as a hobby, and that developed into something that was more, you know, um full-time and fun to do because it is my passion. But yeah, it's just continuing to build relationships and try to pitch any engagements and also doing freelancing on on training on on writing, on how to do poetry. So a lot of people are interested in how to do it and what to do and where to start. And so that's another avenue that you could take.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

And how do you do the training online or universities, or how do you it's both, it's both.

Short-Form Poetry And Social Media

SPEAKER_00 5:08

So definitely sometimes it'll be virtual, sometimes be one-on-one. Sometimes I like to do it at libraries where there's quiet rooms and kind of a teaching area. And so it depends on you know the engagement, how people are interested, and where we're gonna do it, right? Location matters. So that that all encompasses.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

And what's the people's appetite for poetry these days, especially with the short attention span and the TikTok, or maybe actually TikTok increased um interest in poetry. I don't know. What what what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah, I think social media definitely reduced the attention span. So that's why all my poems and videos are two minutes or less, ideally, because I'm well aware of the attention span, is not there. And you know, I don't think anyone wants to sit there and listen to a whole lecture, right? They want something digestible, quick, understandable for the most part, and they can move on. And so, like you said, with TikTok, it's opened the door for much more po poets and um poems to be absorbed and soaked in. So I think that's great. But again, I I'm still very cognizant of the attention span. So I do tell my listeners, watchers, readers, just if you're going to do it, again, try to keep that in mind, you know, two minutes or less, I think is a good sweet spot because you get in, you you give them what they really need to listen to or hear or watch, and then you get out. And so also poetry is such a heavy thing, you need time to let it resonate and soak into your mind, and so you can't, you know, for me personally, I don't want a long two, three, four pages of a poem because it's a lot to take in as it is. So for me, again, it's one page, half page, even maybe a couple blurbs, a couple lines that really are impactful. So you can do a lot with with condensing it.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

So, do you use social media to promote your poetry and how?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, marketing is is the the most important thing, especially for a poet when it's not there full time, like it wasn't for mine for a long time. So I had to use, you know, my own built my own website. Then I had, of course, Instagram, Facebook, all the social media platforms, YouTube, and I get it, right? Like for a long time I didn't want to be on camera. I I you know I'm not really a fan of being on camera because I'm not trying to be famous, I'm not trying to get my face out there, I'm trying to let my words resonate with the masses. So it's really about what you're reading, what you're watching, and I try to be as creative as possible and put videos and poetic pictures out so that people can absorb it in the way that they feel is best for them. And again, I even at my shows, I used to say close your eyes and open your ears because the idea is not for you to see me, it's to hear me and listen to the words that I'm trying to say.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

So, do you do like TikTok videos where you read poetry or reels, or how do you do that?

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Yeah, I have I haven't done too much. I've done a few. Again, I'm not I'm still trying to figure out what the best is for for me from a personal standpoint of what how comfortable I am on camera, but also how I can best share my poetry with the world. And sometimes social media, it it's too much, right? It's everyone, it's really quick. It's quick filter and go, right? So I definitely do use it still, it's just not my main focus.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

What's your main focus?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

My focus is more of the educational standpoint. So I want to be in libraries, I'm gonna be in congress rooms, I want to be in places and rooms that books and reading is important. Social media is not necessarily that, right? Social media is absorbing videos and and pictures, which is great still because I do have that. I do create pictures and videos for sure for my poetry, but that's not where I'm trying to go.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

So, what's the day-to-day like for a poet?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Day-to-day it's it's really just creating, we're creating anywhere you go, living life. So I think the first thing is living life, right? You gotta live every day, you gotta have life experiences to talk about. So you can't just sit in a room and write non-stop because you gotta go out there and live. And so, you know, I took a hiatus, you know, COVID was a really good, I mean, it was a bad time, but it was good in terms of it forced everyone to take a stop and a reset. And so for me, you couldn't even really live life. So you really had to learn about yourself a little bit more, about how are you gonna manage yourself in you know, captivity, so to speak. Uh, and so that gave you another outlet, or gave me another outlay of how to write and what to write about and what's gonna impact the greatest. And so uh the day-to-day is really living life through the course of your life, just you know, interacting with friends, family, doing your hobbies, going to school if you're if that's what you do, even going to work if that's what you have, and then writing about it and writing how you're feeling and what it's not really about me, but if I'm going through something, I'm sure someone of the 8 billion people on the planet are going through something similar, if not the exact same. So, you know, there's somewhere in the world that someone in the world that has been feeling the exact same, and you could be that voice for them.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

And you know, I'm a very fan of poets and and poetry, and I'm just curious what's people's reaction when you tell them, when they ask you, you know, what do you do? And you tell them, I'm a poet. How do how do people react to that?

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Most people say, Oh, I never met a poet, I don't even know anything about poetry. Okay, and I said that, yeah, that's funny. Uh I'm said, I I usually say you probably do listen to poetry because if you listen to rap or any songs, a lot of that is poetic, it's just made into musical form. And so people don't really realize that. They're like, oh, just music or rap. But poetry is an extension of that, right? It's the kind of the foundational basis of that musical talent because it's lyrics and there's a message around it and behind it. And so I just kind of strip away the musical element and and I stick to just the words, and I do I do add the musical element in terms of cadence and rhythmic scheme into it, so that there is kind of a flow when you're listening when you're listening, watching, or reading my poetry. But yeah, that's kind of the initial reaction. It's like you're a poet, and a lot of times it doesn't match the face or or what their idea is of me, and then adding poetry is just another layer, uh a layer of me, right? And so people don't really take that in all the time.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

How what uh like how does a poet look like?

SPEAKER_00 12:04

I asked, I asked the same question. I'm not sure, but I think I think it's the traditional, you know, a little bit more of a nerdy look, glasses maybe, standing of collar shirt. I'm this is what I've been told is that I think they have that traditional old school mentality of what a poet looks like versus today is a little different.

Capturing Ideas And Writing Relatable Work

SPEAKER_01 12:24

So in terms of modern poets now, yeah, who do you like and who do you follow? And who do you think people who are still making poetry alive? Like, you know, you think of like uh Mary Oliver or Emily Dickinson and whatever, and now what is the equivalent in in this era?

SPEAKER_00 12:46

You know, to be honest, since you mentioned it, since TikTok and the more poets have been kind of coming out the woodwork, it's so hard to pick just one. I think a lot of them when I come across are so good. Like there's some I listen to and I'm like, wow, I wish I could write something like that. That that sounds really good and it's it's captivating and it really pulled me in. But you know, you have a lot of famous poets around the world now, Amanda Gorman and Rupee Kors, and you know, there's so many now that's just too off top of my hand, Hubble the Poet. But there it it's I can't just pick one, to be honest with you, because I can get inspiration from a lot of people that are doing poetry, whether they're new to it or they've been doing it for years, it's really about what they're saying and the message behind it and how I interpret it and how it impacts me at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

So when you write your poetry, do you just sit and write, or do you wait until the inspiration strikes?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

I used to sit and write sometimes and kind of force it, but as I've grown, I've learned that it's kind of best for me at least to just wait till you feel that that passion, that that motivational spark to write. Or, you know, what I used to do, and I kind of still do it, is that if I'm driving or experiencing what life has to offer, then I will put a voice note on my on my phone about what I want to say or the message and kind of some of the lines, and I'll go back to it and then and I'll sit down on my desk and start writing and work off that. So it really depends. Sometimes you do have to force it because there's writer's block is a real thing, and so you do have to find a way around it. But for me, it's really wait till I get inspired either with an experience, a word, a conversation, you know, a breakup, anything that's impactful or that's made some sort of impression on you.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

I'm curious about the the actual tools that you use to capture your creativity. There is this famous story that I read in Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, which is like this famous poet that kidnapped in 1900. She was working in the farm, and the minute she has the idea, she would run all the way to her house to, I guess back then there was no phone or no phones, right? Write it down because she was worried that the idea would go to someone else. Uh so she had to quote unquote catch it by the tail. And so how do you catch ideas? So you said you use voice, like I'm just gonna go to the weeds. So you just what use WhatsApp?

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Like what is I'll use I'll use uh like voice notes on I have an iPhone, so I use the voice note.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

I'll still the yeah, the voice app.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah, the voice.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

So you open the voice app, okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yeah, the voice app, I'll use that. I'll use the the memo pad on your notes on your iPhone. I have the memo pad. So if I'm like in the train and there's no service and you don't want to talk, and you just type. Other times I'll be sitting on my computer and I'll have an idea, and I'll just open up a Word document and start writing. But you know, usually right now the phone is is kind of in your hand, so you can do it right away. So if that point to to that woman that just ran to her house, you don't have to do that, right? I can my phone's in my hand, I can just go to the memo app or voice note and type type away so I don't lose that thought. So I think that that's good for me right now.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

And do you have a central place where you gather all these like random thoughts and then you come back to them or they're just scattered?

SPEAKER_00 16:05

To me, uh you know, when I first started, I was very organized. Now they're all over my desktop, it's just scattered like uh a Jackson Pollock. But yeah, you know, you you put try to organize it in a way that works for you and go back to it, and then I do have to clean it up for you know, put it putting it, polishing it up for the book. So that was a process in itself. But yeah, right now it's kind of scattered. I definitely do have to get to back to organizing it somewhat.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Great. All right, so what's your poetry about?

Gigs Merch And Marketing Realities

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah, so it's a great question. So poetry is motion, mind, body, and soul. My the overlaying theme of my poetry has always been relatability at some point in your life or the lives of those that you know have gone through or have witnessed or observed what I'm speaking about, whether that's life experiences, love, breakups, heartbreak, or the pitfalls of growing up in a crazy world, social media, technology advancing. You know, I touch on an array of topics, it's not just one specific topic, and that's how I like it because life is not about one thing, life is about everything. And so for me, I try to just capture what has impacted me, what has affected me, what has influenced me, whether that wasn't a personal experience or that was an experience I've witnessed or observed from afar or even up close, but that just didn't happen to me. All right, so I that's why I I tend to share and I when I do share, a lot of people do like it because again, they they didn't realize a lot of people don't realize that other people are going through the same, similar, if not the same things like heartbreak, right? A lot of people go through heartbreak, but when you're in it, you think, oh, no one's going through this. I I'm the only one and it's I'm the one that's suffering. And then when they read one of my poems about it, they're they realize that they're not alone and there's a way out and they can become a better version of themselves and they can heal from that. So, you know, that's what I try to do. Again, the overlaying theme of the book and my poetry in general is relatability.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

So you hit the bestseller list in was it 2023. And yeah, in here, my notes in 2023. How how did that happen?

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Pure luck. Pure luck, yeah. I I've been I've been at this for 10 years, you know, so professionally at least. And you know, I just continue to put out content, continue to put out poetry, continue to put out poetic videos, continue to put out poetic pictures, and continue to do speaking engagements and going on open mics if I need to. And when I travel to different cities, try to book a gig so that you know I can continue to reach different audiences, different people from different walks of life that would find solace in my poetry.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

So, how do you book these gigs? Do you do people find you online or do you approach them? How do you get all of these speaking engagements?

SPEAKER_00 18:53

Yeah, both, both, both ways. So sometimes they'll reach out to me on social media and say, Hey, you know, we'd love to have you come do a speaking engagement and talk about your book or share subcontrol poems. And other times, if I'm in one of the new city, like when I was going to Miami, I I reached out to one of those venues that that have poems up, poetry poets out there and reached out to them and say, Hey, I'm in your city, you know, I'd love to come and perform and share the stage. And so, you know, I think a lot of places are looking for talent to come reach out to them because sometimes it's hard to find talent that especially with talent that's willing to perform publicly or or step on any stage or even do any speak engagements. So sometimes you gotta present yourself.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

So usually when you s read poetry, do they actually pay you for reading poetry or you just make money from selling your books?

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Uh, so in the beginning it was definitely not paid. Uh, you know, you're me you're you're starting out, so if you did get paid, it was very low, 20, 30, 50 bucks maybe. And then as you get a little more credible, you you have a little bit more of a following, you're a little more polished and professional in your appearance, your approach, how you're doing things, then you could start saying, hey, there's a fee for this, and and some venues you have to negotiate. And again, you have to look at the long-term goal, it's not about the quick money grab, because you know that would be easy, but it's probably not even gonna be a lot of money, right? So sometimes you do it for the look, and you say, Hey, I I when I get on this platform, I have a lot more eyes and ears that I would have never had before, and you gotta take that as okay, that's my payment, you know, that's my competition. And then hopefully you can do something with that new audience that you've curated, whether that's getting an email list together or or social media following, but also with my poetry, I also sell merchandise, right? I'll sell hats and shirts and different things, and so you know, I try to I try to broaden the horizons with not just books, because I know, especially in the social media world in this era, a lot of people don't read, right? They read on their phone, and so I try to cater to different things. Hey, this is wearable art.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Interesting. So, Gen Z, how are they doing in terms of I've been re reading this and I talked with other guests on the platform, and they say because of social media, Gen Zs are now reading paper books because they're tired of looking at their phone. That's why, at least here in the US, like Barnes Noble is expanding. I think they just announced opening like I don't know how many, like dozens of new stores across the country. And because of the push of uh by TikTok and BookTalk and and all of that, and because Gen Zs are back to like vintage, like to reading actual paper books. Have you witnessed that? Have you experienced that? Any thoughts on on it?

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Or yeah, I I think it's a mix, I think it's a blend. I think again, social we're in the social media world, so a lot of people still that's their main way of getting new news or information, and TikTok and Instagram and YouTube are probably the main avenues that people even hear about what's going on in the world, right? And so to hear that people are going back into the bookstores is great because there's a need for that. I think a lot of there's a fatigue, there's a social media fatigue where I think even Gen Z is kind of sick of being on their phone constantly. Like I was lucky, I'm born in 87. So I can't I was born and raised before social media, and then when social media came in, so I was able to see the benefits and cons for both sides. And so, you know, my generation, the millennials are are you know, they always say it's kind of the best generation because we've had the b best of both worlds. But I think the new generation just never had the old ways, right? So they don't even know what life is like before social media, and I think with the with the impact and the awareness of mental health. I think a lot more people are aware that being on your phone or on technology constantly is acting doing actually doing more damage. And so picking up a physical book is just helping get back to kind of the basis. So like if people have people have trouble sleeping, it's usually because they're on their phone, they have that blue light at their face. But if you pick up a book and you read it for maybe you know 10 minutes, 15 minutes, you probably end up falling asleep and probably have a better sleep than you would if you were on your phone and then go to sleep. So I think a lot of people are realizing, you know, podcasts help a lot that speak to these topics. I myself listen to a lot of these podcasts, so you know it's just more awareness, more education around that. And what I think that's why Gen Z is going kind of like you said, vintage, because they realize that, hey, I want to experience that way of living. I was never born into that, I was born into technology, so now I want to know what life is like outside of that.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

So you're a hustler, right? You you've been doing a lot of hustling, and I admire that. I'm a hustler too. So I'm curious what marketing endeavors work the best in terms of ROI.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Yeah, so it there's a lot of trial and error. I'll be honest. There's a lot of trial. There is social media, of course. You can pay for you know sponsorship pages on Facebook or Instagram or all the social platforms and see if that helps. You can get curious email lists, which is always a little more personal. Again, people have to sign up for that. So if they're interested, you know, sign up for their email subscription list, and then you can reach out to them directly and promote your merchandise or book or product or whatever you're selling. The other way is, of course, word of mouth is a big one. But it's it's again, I think for me, because I'm a hustler, I try all avenues. I don't shut off one. If one works, great. I'm not just gonna slowly fold, I'm still going to expand that because I want it from all different avenues, right? Not just one. What I found works best, of course, is word of mouth works absolutely best. That's just in general. But then you try to reach out to maybe audiences that you're not necessarily being contact with, right? Then that they don't know you exist, and sometimes they're a little more curious. For me personally, it's always been I I get more support from non-friends and family from those that don't know me, that are I'm a total stranger to because really that's all they know me for, and so I think for me, I try to focus on that group more.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Interesting. So why are you like it's it's it's not an easy life? The hustling and it. Yeah, why are you doing that? And why not like just get a nine to five job and call it a day?

Next Books Publishing And Instapoets

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Yeah, I have a nine to five, I had um several nine to fives over the course of time for sure. So it's not that I don't want one, it's just right now I think because there's a focus on the book and I'm trying to promote it a little bit more, there's an emphasis on the passion I have for it. You know, and to be honest, I hate the word passion because when people ask, oh, what are you passionate about? And I always say, you know, passion means what would you do today if money didn't exist?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

And you love doing it. That's what passion is, right? Something you would do consistently for free, even before you even got money about got any money from it and and enjoyed doing it. Like I love playing basketball, I don't get paid for it, I'm too short. I don't, you know, I I'm not gonna be a professional MB player, but I still love playing the game. I do it for the enjoyment of it. If I make some money from it, then great, that's a bonus. But I still what wanna keep myself grounded and humble and never lose the love I have for what I'm doing because now money interfered in that. And so I think that's important for me.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

So, and what do you have in mind uh or planned for your next work? So you have one book published, correct? Which is the poetry in motion. What what do you have in the works?

SPEAKER_00 26:42

Yeah, so I'm working on volume two. So Poetry is Motion, Mind, Body, and Soul was the first book. I am working on Poetry is Motion Volume Two, so that'll be a continuation of the of the book series. Uh hopefully to create a little more social media posts and and do I love doing poetic pictures, so I might put out a picture book. Basically, it's a poetic picture book, and so that'll send around all my poems that have pictures associated with the poems. And if you go on my Instagram or any of my social media pages, you'll you'll see that that when I post some pictures, there's a poem captured inside the picture and it relates, right? And so that's how I like to create it. And so that's an idea in the mind. Of course, I'm making another album. I do already have one album called Poetry Is Motion, Mind, Body, and Soul on Spotify and on all you know DSPs. And so, you know, I would explore, I would implore you to explore that. And yeah, just continue to create and and put it out and see where it takes me, right? You can't control every aspect of your life, so you control what you can and you let God handle the rest.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Did you self-publish?

SPEAKER_00 27:45

I did not, no. I have a publisher for this book, Elsa Publishing, which is great. They're based out of Vegas. You know, they came through in the ninth hour and they helped me put this dream into fruition, which was excellent. I appreciate them very much. And so hopefully continue to work with them. I was I was toying around with the idea of self-publishing, and that was you know, I was gonna do it. It was a little daunting to me because there's so much involved, and you know, even when I got with my publisher, I realized how much was really involved. First, it's not only about the poems, right? The poetry is the easy part. You gotta put together the book, you gotta put together the chapters and how it's gonna flow, even the type of paper you use, the cover, the art, the stem of it, what's gonna be on the back. So there's so many intricacies on the business side, on the business side of how you're gonna present your art, right? You can't just create a piece of poem and say here's to the world. Sometimes you can, but if you want to present it in a more of a professional package, you need some experts to come in and help you with that. And so I was I was lucky enough to work with them on this book.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

How did you find them? How did you find your position? They found me. Oh, really? How?

SPEAKER_00 28:53

Yeah, yeah. We I was on I believe it was a platform called Alignable, and again, it was just one of those platforms you share your business or what you're trying to do. And I found her, I found her on it, so I think I followed their page and then she reached out to me else, and then you know, we started to have a conversation and it went from there. It was it was great.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

And the platform is only for poets?

SPEAKER_00 29:14

No, no, it's it's a business platform for anything, anyone. Yeah, it's for people that have interior design businesses or IT consulting services. It's just it's just a business, it's unlike another, it's like a business Facebook, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

It's like market is it a marketplace or it's not a marketplace.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

It's it's like I said, it's called alignable. You can Google it, it's more like Facebook for business.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Interesting. Isn't that LinkedIn?

SPEAKER_00 29:41

But I guess I yeah, LinkedIn LinkedIn's a little more corporate now, so it's it's caters to more people that want to connect directly versus you know, put this whole present presentation over there like that, like LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Interesting. You mentioned Instagram, and then there is it's not the kind of new wish phenomena of poets sharing their poetry in an Instagram post, and I think started with I think she's actually Canadian. I think she started that trend when she started it with Instagram poets and then it turned into a book. Do you see that kind of then the new trend of of poetry where you have Instagram poets? I'm actually gonna Google now as we speak Instagram poets and see what we get.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

Yeah, it's it's a good question. Yeah, like I said, since TikTok and Instagram, to me, my preference is definitely TikTok. Since that has come out and Instagram, there's definitely more poets that have come about. And this it's the same thing with photographers, right? There was professional photographers that had all these cameras, and and you know, and now you have people on Instagram and TikTok that are also now photographers or poets. I don't think that one is better than the other. I think before social media, those that were passionate about it went out of their way to show that hey, I'm a I'm a poet or I'm a photographer. Now, with because of social media, it's opened up the door for anyone, even people that have, you know, let's just say I'm a I'm a 16-year-old in high school having different feelings and thoughts, and now I have a way to express it, and some it's gonna impact. So I think I don't think it matters to be honest. I think what who's who's consistent one, who's continuously doing it. Some people do it for the love of it, others do it to get famous or or get some recognition, and others will do it because they had a thought and as a one-time thing, and that was it. So it really depends on what you're looking for, who you're looking at, and what kind of messages they share.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

So what I saw is that it's actually they call them Instapoets, and I think the most famous one I remembered her name, Rupi K Kawur. Right. Yeah, she's the one who's been widely recognized uh for using it. So it's just it's a very interesting uh phenomenon.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

So how how do people find you or know about your gigs or books? How can they get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Yeah, so the the best way to do that is going to viruspoint.com. That's where I have all my a lot of my poems and have links to different presentations or gigs, and and of course you can buy the book, excuse me, as well as merchandise there. But you can also find me on all social media platforms, whether that's Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, you know, pretty much anywhere that you absorb information.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

That sounds sounds great. Yeah, thank you very much, Virus the Poet, for joining me today. And I wish you the best of luck and keep writing. And for anyone who's listening or watching, thank you for joining us for another episode of Read the Night with Natasha. And until we meet again.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

Thank you for tuning in to Read and Write with Natasha. I'm your host, Natasha Time. If today's episode inspired you in any way, please take the time to review the podcast. Remember to subscribe and share this podcast with fellow book lovers. Until next time, happy reading, happy writing.