Tom McKonePoetry is part of my daily life. I don’t write it, but I enjoy reading it and talking with poets about their work. Occasionally, I talk with Middlesex poet Scudder Parker. Recently, he introduced me to an online platform that offers original ways of exploring poetry, the arts, culture, politics and more: Substack.
Many people are already familiar with Substack. I discovered that I was already getting several newsletters, such as the one by historian Heather Cox Richardson, via Substack.
“As a poet, publishing a poem in a journal or releasing a whole volume is exciting, but for me it’s only a start,” said Parker, a former Vermont state senator, minister, and author of “Safe as Lightning” and the upcoming “The Poem of the World.” “Substack facilitates new dimensions to sharing poetry and provides an easily accessible and more complete way to bring individual poems to readers.”
He appreciates the immediacy of sending out e-newsletters, the opportunity to accompany his poems with photographs and drawings, and the ability to tell a backstory. Originally just for newsletters, Substack also offers podcasts, videos, and discussion threads.
Designed for writers, journalists, and other content creators who share their work and ideas, Substack provides the platform and tools for setting up a blog and newsletter; handles the email list; and, when the content creator charges a fee, handles that, too, taking a little more than 10% in fees to cover operating costs and a profit.
Content creators who offer their work for free don’t pay anything, and neither does their audience. Big-name contributors (such as Richardson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Patti Smith, and Jenny Walton) make a lot, and their fees keep the platform humming.
Although Parker’s Substack, “The Sudden Thing I Trust — Poetry,” is only two months old, he already has 180 subscribers. Like most Substacks, Parker’s is free to subscribers.
Parker was inspired to start a Substack after subscribing to Montpelier journalist, photographer, and field biologist Bryan Pfeiffer’s “Chasing Nature.” Pfeiffer, an adjunct faculty member at UVM and a professional writer “since typewriters,” joined Substack out of curiosity and to “explore its possibilities.”
“Let’s be honest,” he wrote in his first posting in November 2022. “Nature writing is somewhat a fraud. No matter how lyrical, it’s never as good as actual nature. So with the force of the written word (and some pretty pictures), Chasing Nature’s intent is to get you outside to enjoy and make some sense of the world.
“Here you’ll discover owls and orchids, sexual selection and gender identity, warfare and warblers, joy and wonder (lots of joy and wonder). …
“Chasing Nature is for birders and botanists, for backyard and armchair naturalists, for thinkers and wanderers, for anyone who seeks refuge in wild nature, human nature, and the force of the written word.”
Pfeiffer’s Substack has more than 9,000 subscribers using both paid and free options.
While words and photos are both important to Parker and Pfeiffer, photographs dominate for East Montpelier photographer Terry J. Allen, who has reported and photographed in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Central America, and the U.S. and has been published in The Guardian, The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and Vermont papers, including The Bridge.
“I have amassed tens of thousands of images, most of which are tagged with keywords and carefully organized,” Allen said. “Finding images with commonalities and contrasts across time and place is a pleasure and an opportunity to scour my memory and my photo catalog.
“Because ‘Opposable’ (her Substack) is free, I post what I want whenever I get an idea. I have no editor assigning a word count or deadline. So some posts are pretty, some are scathingly political, some are just meant to be thoughtful, outrageous, or funny. I accompany the photos with extended captions only when I have something to say.”
I don’t normally get obsessed with anything on the internet; however, Parker got me hooked on Substack, and I now subscribe to these three and several more.
Since he started only two months ago, I was able to read and view everything Parker has put up, finding one delight after another. I’m not all the way through Pfeiffer’s, but I look forward to each email I get from him, and I’ve been going through older postings. It is, as promised, full of “joy and wonder.” Allen’s “Opposable / Photographs and Stories” is addictive.
You can visit these engaging Substacks and sample others in 30 categories at substack.com and by searching the name of the creator, the name of the Substack, or a topic. Most are free or have a free component. Some may keep you online longer than you intended.
More Local Creatives
Looking for more local creators? Check out this definitely not comprehensive list of central Vermonters on Substack:
“Hold the Olives” by The Bridge’s arts contributor and executive director of the Center on Arts and Learning and advisory board chair of Green Mountain Film Festival, Phayvanh Luekhamhan, offers a view from a local Laotian with insights into food, politics, BIPOC experiences, and deep dives into central Vermont culture.
“Now Playing” by DJ Llu (Mulvaney-Stanak) — who is, among many other things, the station manager at WGDR/WGDH radio — is “Your read on what to listen to, watch, read, and play curated by a nerdy queer DJ in Vermont.”
“The 802 Ed” a podcast about “what’s going on in Vermont’s education policy and practice.
“Artful,” by Susan B. Apel, “a lively blog/newsletter that covers art and culture in the Upper Valley.”
“Echoes from an Old Hollow Tree,” by Brookfield’s Ryan B. Anderson, “about nature, family, and tradition.”
—compiled by Bridge staff
