Closer Lives Poetry Hub

Poetry is where it all began. Long before Closer Lives became a platform for travel, storytelling, and personal growth, it was a poetry community. Jenn had spent years writing and sharing poetry through her blog and later on Instagram, where she created Closer Lives Poetry as a place for writers to connect, share their work, and support one another. Built around the hashtag #CloserLivesPoetry, the community grew to reach thousands of writers around the world and has since amassed more than 32,000 uses on Instagram. At the same time, Leon had recently secured a publishing deal for his poetry collection, Out of the Shadows, and had begun sharing his work online through live poetry readings. One evening, Jenn was looking for readers and joined one of those Instagram live poetry reads and submitted two poems for Leon to read. The poems sparked an interest and a conversation. That conversation became a friendship. The friendship became a partnership. And eventually, it became a love story. Leon at that time joined the Closer Lives Poetry team as a reader and host, Jenn also interviewed and had an eye for talent (many writers have gone on to do epic things in the spoken word/hosting and poetry/ art sectors) and together we built a vibrant community of writers, hosted live poetry reads, and created a space where creativity and connection could thrive. The original vision for Closer Lives included poetry workshops, courses, live events, and creative learning opportunities. While our journey eventually expanded into travel and other areas, poetry remains at the heart of our story. Without poetry, there would be no Closer Lives. And there would be no us.