Lot Louis Veelenturf, 3/5, home blogger ArtEZ Business Centre

Let's cash in

Today I made 38 fourteen-year-olds write a poem. Thirty-eight reluctant teenagers who, after the predictable performances of rebellion, crowded around my desk in the last ten minutes for a final feedback round. My favorite contribution was a poem about a street lantern with wanderlust. “Try to really empathize, where would it want to go?” I urged the student to contemplate, as I sent them on their way.

I read to my students from Habitus by Radna Fabias, made them analyze ‘Het ligt niet aan jou maar aan het huis’ [It’s not you, but the house] by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and then had them read a poem by Hannah van Binsbergen, one by one, with constantly increasing volume. To be honest, I didn’t expect them to obey when I asked them to underline all the metaphors in a text. But I turned it into a race against time, and the first one to find them all would be exempted from public declamation. (That was, of course, the ultimate prize.)

Teaching is a new aspect of my writing practice as a fresh graduate. Because while it’s super fun to publish a new online magazine for the queer community, it doesn’t pay the bills. At the Academy we’re taught to develop our ideas and stick to our ideals. In the ‘real’ world, which comes after that, nobody is waiting to hand you a bag of cash for you to pay the rent, let alone realize your dreams. An artist (or writer, in my case) needs to develop a sharp business mindset. Or move back in with their parents at age 24, I guess.

Developing that kind of business mindset is, unfortunately, easier said than done. Starting your own business shouldn’t be taken lightly and it takes a strong constitution, especially in the beginning. On my first visit to the Chamber of Commerce I was asked to estimate my quarterly income, and it appears I overrated my ability to bring in commissions by like 500%. That might have something to do with being a Leo but it’s still a bit of a bummer.

Let me draw you a picture of the ways in which a writer might earn money, if you play your cards right. You might get a book deal with a publishing house, you can apply for a grant with the Dutch Foundation for Literature, you can do freelance work, you can give public readings, you can win awards by participating in competitions, you can edit another writer’s work, you can teach and you can work in a clothing store on the side. So soon after graduating the last option still seems to be the most realistic one, although my ‘sharp business mindset’ is starting to evolve.

Publishing books is a real childhood dream for me, and while it’s difficult to obtain a book deal, it isn’t impossible. The real snag is the money: it’s only going to reach your bank account if your book is a straight-up bestseller and is named at the book panel of De Wereld Draait Door. As an author, you can expect only about 10% of the revenues.

For that reason, you might also apply for a grant at the Dutch Foundation for Literature, so that you can at least provide for yourself while you’re writing your masterpiece, but there are all sorts of rules and regulations involved, most importantly that you can only apply if you’ve already published something before. That’s not much use to someone like me, who’s only just starting out.

A more realistic source of income (one I discovered years ago during my time at ArtEZ) is public reading. As opposed to publishing in a literary review, which tends to give you little more than bragging rights, performing is often reasonably well-paid. It depends on the stage and context, of course (don’t expect the jackpot if you’re asked to read a few rhymes for the local bridge club at the community center) but the sum can increase considerably.

The way I make most of my money right now (other than the clothing store) is through workshops. I go to schools to give poetry workshops, as I mentioned before, but also sometimes to provide LGBTQI+-workshops to staff. I explain to high school teachers how they can support students who are having difficulty coming out, what words are important to know (and which ones definitely not to use anymore!), why it’s important to observe and practice a student’s pronoun preferences, how they should consider the ethnicity and class background of the student in their conversations, and more.

These are vital discussions to have, because I don’t think most of those teachers are involved in any way with queer content, while it’s incredibly important for them to be aware of the latest developments. I am glad that, other than running a literary magazine, I can connect the queer community and the rest of the world in such a personal way.

One of my next projects is connected to that. While I can’t reveal too much, I can disclose that I’m writing a grant application for a podcast on (need you really ask) the queer community.

Fingers crossed.

Translation by: Witold van Ratingen 

Lot Louis Veelenturf - Creative Wrinting ArtEZ

2019 - Last summer I graduated from the Creative Writing program without doing the things I had planned to do. I didn’t write a book or publish a poetry collection. Instead, I founded an online platform for queer art and literature, named First Person. It’s a personal project, because I noticed that as a genderqueer author, there weren’t so many places I could publish my work without having to answer for myself, my identity and my pronouns. photography Leroy Verbeet.

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