Reading your work in front of an audience can be a powerful part of building your writing career. It can also enrich the writing process itself, allowing you to test a piece, hear it in a new way, and notice how others respond to it. Writing with the possibility of sharing your work publicly can sharpen your sense of voice, rhythm, and clarity. It can also motivate you to finish a piece for a new deadline.
Listen to the conversation with artist and writer Martyna Daniel about the influence that reading her work publicly had on her book in progress, I Spin.
Building Your Presence
Participating in reading events builds your presence, introduces your work to new audiences, and grows your readership. Reading events are a great opportunity to connect with other authors, editors, translators, and cultural curators who may support or collaborate with you in the future.
There is a variety of formats for public readings. One of the most open and accessible is the OPEN MIC, where writers can sign up to share their work with an audience.
A great example is RVK Open, hosted by Reykjavík Poetics at Mengi. The event invites around 10–12 readers each time, who pre-register for a spot via email. During the event, the host invites each author to the stage in a previously agreed order. Every reader has five minutes: one minute to introduce themselves and four minutes to share their text in a language of their choice. The event has become very popular and is often well attended.
Sometimes the authors organise their own INDEPENDENT EVENTS. A group of literary friends or collaborators come together to create a reading event where they share their work. Some festivals, libraries, cafés, and bars welcome this type of initiatives. Would it be fun to organise your own event?
CURATED EVENTS are another opportunity. In this case, it is the curator or organiser who decides whom to invite to read. Building your network and presence on the literary scene can increase your chances of being invited to take part.
Feeling a little bit unsure about reading for live audience? Together with writer and standup comedian Dan Roh we prepared a short help-guide for you:
Your Task
- Write down three ideas for literary events you would like to organise. Consider:
- a list of authors you would invite to read;
- a theme or subject that connects all the authors or their work;
- a place and time that would be suitable for your event. Maybe there is a special occasion that could support the event (for example, World Poetry Day, a summer festival, or Halloween). Maybe there is a venue that is easily accessible to you?