A non-profit program helping young people find their voice through poetry — and become the leaders of tomorrow. Take the workshop online for free, or bring Josh to your school, facility or retreat.
Poets Rise is a non-profit program that uses poetry as a tool for young people to discover who they are, what they think, and how to say it out loud.
It started in my cousin’s high school class. Kids who never spoke a word in her class, picked up a pen, and performed the most incredible poetry in front of the class and blew everyone’s minds. That’s the whole program. I give you a framework to create and you unleash the brilliance that’s locked inside.
Now it’s a free online workshop anyone can take — or we can come to you in person at high schools, juvenile halls, retreats, or wherever we can be impactful.
The workshop is built around three things every young person deserves: the confidence to speak, the craft to be heard, and a community of peers doing the same.
Don’t overthink it. Don’t get caught up in rhyming. Just start simply and let your creativity flow out of you onto the paper. There is no getting it wrong.
The framework doesn’t focus on rhyming. We give you a format geared to let you unlock your potential and speak your truth freely.
Voice is the first muscle of leadership. The poets who finish this program go back to their schools, their families, their communities with something most adults never figured out: the ability to be heard.
Josh travels to juvenile halls and high schools around the world to lead Poets Rise in person. If you run a facility, a school, or a youth program, you can book a live session.
A single class or whole assemblies. We either work with a single teacher every period for the day or run a 45-minute assembly. English departments, after-school programs, leadership cohorts — all good. Tailored to your students and your schedule.
Josh comes in, sits down with the residents, and runs the workshop face-to-face — the way it was meant to be taught. We don’t discard troubled youth, we elevate them. Coordinated with your staff and program lead.
Community centers, group homes, foundations, summer programs, cancer hospitals. If you’re working with young people who need to be heard, Josh will come.
Once you’ve worked through the prompts, submit a piece. Selected work gets featured on the site and shared with the community.
Anyone can submit — you don’t have to finish the workshop first. The only thing we ask is that it’s yours, and that you mean it.
Take the workshop online for free, book Josh to teach in person, or join the community of writers, mentors and teachers on Telegram. Come say hello.