PoetQualifications

MFA Poetry programs are a dime a dozen—well, they actually cost you millions of dimes, hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, but that’s not the point. The point is that you can study poetry absolutely anywhere. One of the great things about poetry is the academic cycle: student enjoys poetry, student earns poetry degree, student earns no money as poet, student becomes poetry professor, poetry professor teaches students, students earn poetry degrees, students earn no money as poets, students become poetry professors.

Of course, you could also just read a lot of poetry and then write without a degree, but then what would you do while all your friends are paying off their student loans by picking up catering jobs?

Seriously, though, there really are no qualifications for becoming a poet other than patience, creativity, and the ability to go for months, years, or even decades without anything fulfilling happening in your career.