The 30/30 Project helps poets of all backgrounds grow their confidence as writers and establish a literary community for themselves. Rooted in collaboration, reciprocity, and literary citizenship, 30/30 poets develop a body of work, confidence and discipline in their writing process, and build their readership base during their participation, all the while supporting independent publishing.
Ten years ago, the 30/30 Project started with a friend of Tupelo Press looking to conquer her writer’s block. By the beginning of 2022, 1,000 volunteer poets globally have embarked on their own poetry marathons, writing 30 poems every day for a month. Poets join a vast, supportive alumni network full of potential readers and collaborators. 30/30 alumni have work published in over 200 unique literary journals and magazines generated during their 30/30 months.
Since its inception, the project has added annual alumni readings, mini-craft talks for writing poets, and an extended alumni community with a special relationship to Tupelo Press. 30/30 past contributors by month.
Sponsors of 30/30 poets make it possible for Tupelo Press to continue to expand the diversity of the literary canon, provide exposure for participating poets, and increase their confidence and visibility. Incredible poets and incredible work are discovered and supported through this generative drawing board!
Ninth Annual Alumni Reading!
THE 2023 AWP IN Seattle
An amazing evening of poetry & fellowship!
Images from our annual event!
Who: All alumni, our friends and family!
Emcees: Cynie Cory & Miriam Calleja
Where: the Seattle Public Library in the Washington Room!
When: 6:00 pm
What: Poets, Poetry Book sales, refreshments, appetizers and the electric magic of you and Tupelo Press!
List of Readers:
Farnaz Fatemi
Kai Coggin
John Glowny
Jayne Marek
Cathy Ferrell
Jason Gray
Nicole Winters
Doug Van Gundy
Laura Apol
Jeanne-Marie Osterman
Angelo D’Amato
Mary Pacifico-Curtis
Todd Ferguson
Anna Priddy
Cynie Cory
John James
Nancy Meyer
Zachary Kluckman
Miriam Calleja Shaw
Stephen Paul Miller
CM Sears
Michele Herman
Katherine Abrams
Brice Maiurro
Lynne Ellis
Kenneth Wagner
Tobey Kaplan
“The experience for me was transformational. Through this 30 day journey, I networked with fellow creative spirits, learned to put my poetry out there without fear of criticism, and felt completely comfortable and confident in the poems I was producing because I could feel, through Tupelo’s emails and the emails from fellow writers for the month, that I was valued and making a difference.”
-Anthony Cicchino, April 2019 Volunteer Poet
Learn more about the project:
30/30 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
30/30 Project: Poets Talk!
Where Do 30/30 Alumni Publish Their Work?
Staff:
Douglas Luman is the Assistant Director of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, a co-founder of Container, art director at Stillhouse Press, head researcher at appliedpoetics.org, a book designer, and digital human. They are an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Allegheny College, and the author of two books: The F Text (Inside the Castle, 2017), and Rationalism (Sublunary Editions, 2021). Doug is a twice alum of the 30/30 Project!
Kirsten is the National Director of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project and holds a degree from the University of Virginia in Environmental Sciences and led a seminar series at UVA in research ethics for a number of years, lecturing and remaining active in the conversation about digital image integrity in the sciences. She founded the Tupelo Press Teen Writing Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, supporting teen writers and developing programming for scalable community support for writing as an art for teens. A bookmaker and member of a local letterpress non-profit with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, she enjoys exploring the very slow process of making books by hand, and the relationship of the book to its content. She is working on her first novel.
Contact Us: Have questions or comments about the 30/30 Project? Email Kirsten Miles, Executive Director of the 30/30 Project, at kmiles@tupelopress.org