Prompt #3: Aspiration

My hopes for this internship at Belladonna is to make connections and to learn what it takes to run a small press. I’ve always valued small collaboratives that center their ethics. Belladonna has shown me the pros and cons of a company that tries to steer clear of capitalistic exploitative behaviors. I hope the company can show me that you don’t need to exploit labor in order to run a company. Belladonna really tries to take care of everybody—the writers, the workers, and me. It often comes at a monetary cost. Everyday I also learn how vulnerable small presses and collectives can be. But I would love to continue to learn how to plan events and write grants. A lot of the money we acquire comes from grants and I think that’s an invaluable skill to learn. I would also love to learn more about the physical process of printing the book. We’ve halted printing books for right now as the company is going through a transitional stage. But to see the physical process would be dope. 

I also hope Belladonna can show me how to produce a reading. I would like to know what goes into hosting a poetry reading. The process of security readers, promotion, and then publishing the poems in a chaplet. I think this would be great for connecting with other poets and learning how to plan an event in general could look great on a resume. I am already helping to plan their 25th anniversary Gala. I’ve gotten in contact with speakers and I’ve looked at the menu from the caterers. Belladonna has been super transparent when it comes to the event planning so I am already learning so much. Overall, I feel like I am already learning a lot on the job and I am excited for learning more in the upcoming weeks.

Prompt #4: The Everyday

Every week at Belladonna is different. But a typical work day at Belladonna would first consist of me doing shipments for the company. I usually look at the orders placed for the books we published, then I search through the office to see if we have copies and then I package and run them through the mail room. I think that is the most expected job of an intern but I’ve also been attached to some big projects. I’ve been helping the company plan their 25th anniversary celebration. This past week I searched for DJs for the event and I’ve been the speaker liaison. The speaker liaison was especially fun because I got to be in direct communication with the poets who are reading at the event. I even got to pick one of the poets who I’ve been such a huge fan of, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs. As the company goes through some structural changes, my role becomes more and more flexible. Recently we’ve been having a lot of meetings regarding what my role in the spring will be. I proposed a podcast in which I would interview the poets we’ve published and they said they loved the idea.

Overall, every week is different at Belladonna. It’s a company in transition and although that may come with a lot of uncertainty, there is something really beautiful about helping to build this company back up. I don’t feel like an intern. I don’t feel overworked at all but I also feel like the work that I do matters. I really have grown to appreciate the space that Belladonna crafted for me and I am ready to continue the great work. These next couple of weeks will be dedicated to the Gala and I’m excited to see how it all comes together.

Zine Fair

During my second week at Belladonna, we reorganized the office. Filing over a hundred of different chaplets and logging them into a spreadsheet. I took some time to read through some of the amazing poetry that had been published through the company. However, The most exciting thing was running the Belladonna table at the NYC Queer Zine fair at The Gay Center. I was terrified. I would have to run the table by myself and I wouldn’t necessarily categorize our chaplets as zines (they have no pictures!) 

Arriving there was pretty hectic. I had to carry a huge event box filled with 100+ copies of chaplets I’m supposed to sell, 10 tote bags, our table cloth, book stands, and t-shirts. Luckily, they paid for the uber there. When I arrived, it was hectic. All of the zine owners were running around decorating their tables, trying to organize their space in a way that shows off their zines the best. The zines were incredible and very diverse. Some were pure photography, others were directed to younger readers, while some were intended for ***adult readers. 

The Belladonna table was squeezed in between two really good and fast selling zines. The first hour there I sold nothing. I was ready to pack it up and head home. I did not want to embarrass myself for another 5 hours, sitting at a table filled with poetry chaplets. But I couldn’t back out for two reasons: first, I made a commitment, and second,I believe in the work that Belladonna publishes. I knew we could be a competitive seller if people took the time to read some of the poetry. So instead of presenting the chaplets closed on the table, I opened them. I allowed potential buyers to read them. I allowed them to take their time. And we started to sell! 

By the end of the fair we sold a good amount of chaplets and some totes. Even when the cards were stacked against us, the quality of the material pushed through. I learned a great lesson that day: sometimes you have to find unique ways to reach out and bring the reader in, give them time to taste the work, and trust that the material will sell itself.

First Day At Belladonna!

Belladonna is amazing! The space is filled to the brim with poetry books and chaplets. The people are extremely dope and kind. I even got to sit in on a team meeting to discuss their new logo. Over the course of the year, I will be helping with event coordination, archival projects, shipping orders, book fairs and launches, as well as reading submissions for their next round of publications. My goal this year is to learn as much on the job as I possibly can. I would love to learn some grant writing, as well as meet writers and establish connections with those working in publishing and poetry. I also would love to publish a chaplet of my own poetry under the Belladonna label as well as read a bunch of poetry. I’m most excited about the event planning. This year Belladonna is having their 25th anniversary gala and I am so happy to be a part of planning it. I love galas and we’re expected to have poetry readings at the gala so it should be really fun. I’m also excited about seeing the printing of books. I’m very interested in the design of books although I am not a designer myself. I often buy a book according to the design of its cover (guilty as charged!). It would be nice to see what kind of conversations Belladonna has with their authors about the designs of their books. My first day we had a meeting about changing the logo and it was fascinating to see different iterations of the logo; and how each iteration made a different statement about the company itself. Lastly, I’m excited to spend time in the space itself. There’s so much beautiful sunlight in the space and we share it with other literary collectives! I don’t have any concerns at this moment but if they do come up I will bring them up. But so far, so good!