Click on the video above to hear about Mark’s experience with Writer’s Relief!
A professional drummer and percussionist, Mark Belair decided to branch out creatively and write poetry—but he didn’t know how or where to get his poems published. Instead of giving up and putting his poetry aside, Mark diligently researched his options. That’s when he spotted an ad for Writer’s Relief. One phone call and one submission to our Review Board later, Mark joined the Writer’s Relief family and sent out his first batch of poems to carefully selected literary journals. The result? Drumroll, please…Mark’s poems have since appeared in numerous journals, including Alabama Literary Review, Harvard Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize multiple times, as well as for a Best of the Net Award.
Read on and watch the video to hear more about how Writer’s Relief helped Mark find the right markets for his poetry and boosted his odds of getting published.
In Mark’s Own Words
Legend has it that Beethoven, told he was a genius, declined the designation. But, he said, “I have divine persistence.” The persistence needed to compose music is, of course, true of composing literature. Yet after that struggle with oneself, it also takes persistence to share one’s work and to get it published.
That’s where Writer’s Relief comes in. They are wonderfully persistent in helping clients make the best presentation of their work and in getting it out for consideration at the right places. After all those hours alone at a desk, such help, for a writer, is a treasure.
More About Mark
Mark Belair’s poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Atlanta Review, Cimarron Review, Fulcrum, Poetry East, The South Carolina Review, and The Sun. He is the author of seven collections of poems and two works of fiction: Stonehaven (Turning Point, 2020) and its sequel, Edgewood (Turning Point, 2022).
As a professional drummer, Mark has recorded with jazz greats Bill Evans and Joe Lovano and performed and recorded with Gunther Schuller’s New England Ragtime Ensemble and Mr. Schuller’s Mingus Epitaph band. He has also performed as a percussionist with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The many conductors Mark has worked with include Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Eugene Ormandy. His show credits include the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors and the Broadway production of Les Misérables.
You can read more about Mark and his work at www.markbelair.com.