Apply to Join Split This Rock's Curation Team

Overview

Split This Rock seeks a First Reader to join our curation team for the Poem of the Week Series. First Readers are paid consultants who sign contracts with the organization, with a tentative commitment of one year. We welcome applications from individuals who reside in the United States. 

The Poem of the Week curation team includes First Reader consultants and all full-time staff. We aim to work with someone who understands and values anti-oppression and racial, gender, economic, and disability justice as core organizational operating principles. We're particularly interested in people who have experience at the intersection of arts and social justice and share our commitments to equity, access, and liberation. 

Split This Rock's Poem of the Week series publishes a contemporary poem online each week and shares each poem via our email newsletter and social media accounts. All poems are available in The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database, the only database of its kind, searchable by social justice theme/topic, poet identities, and several other search tags, which can be combined to create a unique, specific search. Like all of Split This Rock’s programs, Poem of the Week and The Quarry are designed to amplify voices that have been historically underrepresented in the poetry field.

Scope of Work

We invite applications from consultants to work with us in the following ways:

• Reviewing poems and providing feedback: First Readers review submitted poems over two- or three-week reading periods, for a total of approximately 20 poems maximum during each reading period. For each poem, First Readers provide a vote on whether a poem should advance to the next stage of review, note any potentially harmful or concerning ideas or language, recommend content notices, and provide additional comments. To best support our small staff team and the publication process, First Reader consultants must be able to meet requested deadlines. 
• Periodically attending virtual meetings: Meetings with the full First Reader team are scheduled based on participants’ availability. Meetings are held virtually on Zoom with access to automated captions and transcripts. Split This Rock is committed to doing all it can to make this an accessible virtual meeting experience. Each participant sends accommodation requests as early as possible before the scheduled meeting date to provide staff the best opportunity to fulfill requests. 
• Monthly invoicing: First Reader consultants submit one invoice via email each month. Split This Rock can compensate each First Reader at a rate of $25 USD per hour, for up to 10 hours per month. Payments are issued within 10 days via mailed check or PayPal, depending on which payment method is requested in an invoice. Billable hours include reading time, reviewing training and guidance materials, Zoom meetings, responding to emails from Split This Rock staff, and other optional tasks that staff may request. 
• Reporting to Literary Arts Programs Director: The work of the Poem of the Week curation team, including First Reader consultants and staff, is managed by Split This Rock’s Literary Arts Programs Director. First Readers communicate with the Literary Arts Programs Director via email and full team Zoom meetings. 

Timeline

Please send your application materials by June 1, 2025. 

Consultation contract period will be June 25, 2025 to June 24, 2026, with the possibility of renewal. 

While we appreciate the time it takes to apply for this position, we do not have capacity to respond to every candidate. Once we have identified a new First Reader for our curation team, we will make an announcement in our email newsletter.